On the Outside: To Fall and Rise Again Book 2
by Dawn Bently
Summary: Everything changed. The Realm now has a Queen on its throne, the daughter of a Lord fancying herself High Duchess, and a surprising Heir to inherit the crown. Kerio/OC, Kerio/Attia, Finn/Claudia, Casper/OC. Sequel to Lapse In Judgement
1. Chapter 1

In Finn's second year on the throne, Court had changed so drastically. The most notable change was in Claudia's now official rank as Queen. In keeping with tradition, she was given her own household of ladies-in-waiting. Though Attia refused several times over to be added to it, Lady Anne, Casper's surprisingly continued love interest accepted the invitation. In effect, the three unofficially became Court's most important women. As such, the three stood together near the back window of Finn's office while they waited for the remaining men in the room to leave for the night. It was fairly common knowledge all politics ended an hour early every Friday to give the newly wedded King and his closest companions time to themselves. It had become a bit of a ritual for the six to gather for dinner and the occasional card game or some other entertainment.

"Whose turn was it to bring the wine?" Anne asked curiously as she looked to Claudia.

"Casper I think," Claudia answered with a shrug. She met Anne's gaze for a moment before she eyed Finn across the room. The men's chatter was relatively quiet, but Finn knew he needed to end the day's work rather soon. At least before Keiro and Casper arrived. When it seemed the man had no intention of leaving, Claudia excused herself from her two closest friends to approach her husband. She brushed her fingers against the small of his back, and Finn had nearly jumped at the sensation that had caught him off guard. "Ready for dinner, yet?" she asked gently as she peered up at him, her arm snaked around his back. She could feel his tense slightly at the touch as he looked down at her with slightly widened eyes.

"Yes, of course," he replied simply, then pressed his lips to her forehead. "We'll continue this tomorrow," Finn declared simply, casting only a singular glance in the man's direction. When he turned back to Claudia, he didn't even pay attention to whether the man had left the office or not. The next thing he knew, Keiro and Casper's rather crude conversation was filling the room's quiet.

"Well, I think she's definitely worth a little extra effort," Casper declared as he shut the door behind him and Keiro.

"I only have so much attention span for one woman, Casper," Keiro replied as he walked towards the circular table that had been set up in the far corner of Finn's office. In his arms he carried two different bottles of wine. "I managed to bribe the cellar keeper for a white wine," he bragged as he met Attia's gaze. "This one is for you," he told her as he turned so that the neck of the white wine bottle was pointed towards her. When she pulled it from his grasp, he turned back to walk towards the table. "And a red for the rest of us who actually drink like adults."

"Oh, bite me," Attia chided him as she took her seat on the other side of the table. Keiro let his grin flash for only a second as he kept his gaze downward on the empty table. Within the next few minutes, the others found their seats and arranged themselves so that the women sat on one side, the men on the other while Claudia and Finn sat besides one another as did Casper and Anne. The most functional part of that seating arrangement, however, was that Attia and Keiro were not awkwardly seated away from each other, rather it felt like a natural arrangement that simply accommodated their now nonexistent relationship.

"All I'm saying is that she might be worth the extra time you put in," Casper said in a continuation of his and Keiro's conversation.

"Who?" Claudia asked as she peered up at the two men seated across from her.

"Lady Morgan," Casper answered with a wide grin across his face. Of course, once Anne struck him with in his side with the back of her hand, the grin faded rather quickly. "She's alright, you know," he added though in a vain attempt to play down the apparent attractiveness of Keiro's newest victim. Attia kept the pleasant smile across her face but didn't add anything to the conversation as per usual for any conversation about Keiro's conquests. Since their mutual split, they both returned to their lives before their relationship, which meant Attia went back to spending all her time doing side work for Finn or Claudia, and Keiro went back to spending all his catching unsuspecting women.

"She's a terrible choice, Keiro," Claudia warned but Keiro only waved her off. Before he replied, the main doors opened as the servers brought dinner into the room. As they placed one plate in front of each person, Keiro peered across the table at the new Queen.

"I don't know what you're talking about. She's lovely," Keiro replied, almost succeeded in convincing Claudia that he actually cared for the girl. "Have you not seen that shapely green dress she wears?"

"Oh god," Claudia rolled her eyes as she held up her wine glass to the server as he walked around the table with the bottle of wine. "You're terrible, Keiro," she amended her comment, earning a laugh from the female side of the table. "What were you working on earlier?" she asked as she shifted her attention to Finn, opting to change the subject before Attia disappeared into the wall.

"Council thinks we should go on Progress to celebrate the wedding and show everyone their Queen," Finn answered as he shook his head lightly. By then all the glasses had been filled and food served so the servers had quietly left the room, providing privacy.

"It doesn't seem so terrible," Casper commented. Finn peered up at his step-brother with narrowed eyes.

"You'd be coming, too."

"Well, it's a ridiculous idea," Casper responded as though he hadn't said anything to begin with. Everyone laughed slightly at his comment. Since Anne, Casper had become more tolerable to the point where he actually did fit in better with Attia, Keiro, and Finn. After the wedding, even Claudia became more comfortable with Attia and managed to convince herself she did actual belong with the three escapees who managed to snag a kingdom in their spare time.

"Doesn't sound all bad," Attia put in as she peered up at Finn. "Get away from Court for a while. I think we could all use it."

"We'd have to ask all the lords or dukes if they could house us as we continue," Claudia pointed out, but Finn was already nodding.

"Council already started. They already out voted us."

"We didn't vote, Finn," Keiro pointed out as though that had somehow escaped him.

"I'm aware," Finn replied with a laugh. "But even if we all said no, they'd still outnumber us." Of course, Anne wasn't included in things like voting in Council meetings the way the other five were, but she was rarely excluded from those who had quickly become her closest friends at Court. "I don't think we have much choice left. And it's not like any of you have showed up for a Council meeting in months."

"I was busy with the wedding," Claudia defended herself.

"Fine," Finn replied as he turned to Casper.

"I was helping her with the wedding," he replied, earning stares from him and Claudia. Keiro and Attia smiled in amusement but nobody called Casper out on his blatant lie.

"I've been chasing Morgan," Keiro admitted with a shrug before he shoveled a spoonful of food into his mouth. When Finn turned to Attia, she met his stare as she lifted her wineglass to her lips and let the sweet wine trickle into her mouth.

"I've been avoiding them." Attia was the only one to answer truthfully earning a laugh from Finn as he nodded and held up his glass to hers.

"At least one honest person among us," he said as their glasses clinked. The others only laughed as they all enjoyed their dinner. Though they all had finished their dinners when a knock came at the door, it still felt like an intrusion. For a moment, they all stared at each other until Finn sighed and looked up at the door. "Come in," he called out loudly, then narrowed his eyes as a woman strode into the room after the Royal Guards had pushed open the doors for her.

"Morgan," Keiro said, genuinely surprised as he looked at her with widened eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Claudia and Finn had looked to Attia briefly, but she seemed to hardly notice Morgan at all. Attia kept her gaze down as she poked at the remainder of her food until she lifted her wineglass to her lips again. Though both searched her expression for any kind of pain, neither could find any even though she and Keiro had been apart for a few months following the wedding. Then again, Finn wasn't really surprised if in their hearts of hearts, Keiro and Attia hadn't been as deeply intertwined as everyone had believed them to be. Finn knew Incarceron could block out anyone's heart if they let it and he was more than willing to bet his life that at least Keiro had let that happen.

"Well, you said you wanted to do something tonight, so I went to your chambers, but you weren't there and the guard directed me here. I hope I'm not interrupting," she explained as she smiled at Keiro, then let her gaze drift to Finn and Claudia. "Your Majesties," she paid them the attention they were due in public and even bent her knees in a half curtsy. Only Finn nodded at her and Claudia met Anne's gaze.

"Uh," Keiro started before he turned back to the table. Casper enthusiastically nodded, though everyone else remained impartial as Attia did. "No, you're not interrupting," he lied as he stood from his seat and approached her. "I didn't actually plan anything because I didn't expect you to agree," he admitted as he reached her and held out his hand. She smiled brightly up at him as she placed her hand in his and let him press his lips to the back of it.

"I have a feeling you're quite talented at thinking on your feet, so I have faith you'll find something for us," she told him, her voice even and seductive. Keiro grinned at her as he chuckled and lead her to towards the door.

"How do you feel about a moonlit horse ride?" he asked, his hand finding the small of her back.

"See? I knew you could do it," she replied before the Guards pulled the door shut behind them.

"She annoys me so much," Anne admitted as soon as Morgan and Keiro were no longer in the room. "Who talks like that?"

"When you're trying to land a man, Anne," Casper answered, but with Keiro out of the room, there was nobody to encourage or even humor him. In the quiet following his comment, he turned to look down at Anne, who only stared at him through narrowed eyes.

"All the time?" she questioned, but Casper made no sign he'd even heard her. "She talks like that all the time," Anne declared as she turned away from Casper to look at Attia, then at Claudia. "In normal conversation, she sounds like she's trying to seduce you."

Attia only laughed as she sipped her wine. When she met Anne's bewildered stare, she responded, "That's why I didn't ask to join Claudia's household. I get to avoid all that obnoxious crap."

"Didn't ask?" Finn repeated as he rose an eyebrow at her. "You refused to be added to the household on several occasions."

"And for good reason," she replied, pulling laughs from everyone at the table.

"Well, you're probably the only woman at Court who could do that," Anne pointed out. Had it been anybody else, Finn would've simply ignored them and added them to Claudia's household regardless. The older generations at Court fought to keep certain traditions, one of which was no female members in a married King's household, and vice versa. Attia was the only exception, having fought tooth and nail to remain under Finn's employment rather than Claudia's.

"I don't think Lady Morgan will be around for much longer anyway," Attia said simply with a shrug. "Keiro doesn't have the attention span to continue chasing one girl."

"He had the attention span for you," Anne replied, and Attia turned to look at her.

"He wasn't chasing me, Anne. That was a very different arrangement in the beginning."

"What? You were both bored at the same time and place?" Finn asked. Though Attia didn't respond, she knew as well as the others that Finn's comment was more or less true. Why Keiro had actually lingered with Attia was beyond anybody else's guesses. If Attia knew, she wasn't divulging that piece of information. Claudia and Anne particularly admired the balance they seemed to strike between ex-lovers and acquaintances, never revealing too personal information about one another, but still able to sit at the same table and smile and laugh over dinner with common friends.

"Well, I hope she doesn't stick around. Of all the women, he had to pick her?" Anne ranted as she shook her head and sighed.

"Trust me, Anne. He didn't pick her because she's annoying."

"Then why?" Anne asked as she tilted her head and peered up at the Prince, one eyebrow higher than the other.

"Well," Casper started then stumbled on his words slightly when he realized he'd wandered into a trap. Attia, Claudia, and Finn sat by, all thoroughly amused as they grinned at the odd couple. "Word is that most men find her very attractive, but I however, am in a committed relationship therefore do not pay attention to the truth of such rumors," Casper explained, putting his talent for spinning words to good use. Anne rolled her eyes as she turned away, and Casper grinned smugly, but again, nobody was present to appreciate his comments. In many regards, Keiro and Casper were closer than Keri o and Finn. Then again, Keiro, Finn, and Attia, would align always align themselves together no matter what interpersonal issues they had. The three shared a bond Claudia, Anne, and Casper could neither understand nor share in. Claudia had wondered if there had been some understanding between Attia and Keiro rooted in that idea that kept them from fighting after their split. Of course, they'd never said why they'd suddenly stopped spending time together.


	2. Chapter 2

**I hope you all like it so far! Always feel free to leave your thoughts, comments, and questions!**

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><p>When Attia walked into Finn's office, there were more people than usual. She was forced to weave through all the men standing around to get to Finn's desk. When she heard the unmistakable sound of girlish giggling, she almost turned to leave the office, knowing there was no way it could be Claudia or Anne, quite possibly the only two women at Court she could stand. They had far too much self respect to make that noise in public. That, of course, left Keiro's latest victim to be the originator of the noise. Though she and Keiro were on relatively good terms—considering that even when they had been romantic they could hardly stand one another—she didn't know how well she'd handle actually seeing him in the midst of seducing some poor woman. Keiro had been exceptional at hiding his women away from her in the last few months, and if she had to say anything nice about him at all, that would be it.<p>

Nonetheless, she reached Finn's desk, noticing the majority of the men in the room weren't politicians as they usually were, but instead the highest ranking Royal Guards. Finn was engaged in conversation when she reached the desk with Charles, Commander of the Royal Guard, and she just waited for him to finish before she spoke. In the few minutes that the two were speaking, Attia could no longer stop herself from peering up at the far corner where she did in fact find Keiro and the giggling woman. Dressed in a floor length Era dress, the woman had a well defined waist from the tightly pulled ribbon on her corset. The vibrant blue of the fabric made her blue eyes stand out against her pale skin. The way she laughed and smiled gave off the impression she was fluid and natural even under the constraints of a corset Attia knew nobody could be that comfortable in. Even her hair, dark brown curls, looked natural when such a hair style required quite an amount of time to achieve.

"Attia," Finn called and she turned to look down at him quickly. She knew Finn was aware of what she'd been looking at, but he said nothing and gave no indication he'd even notice. "What are those?" he asked as he reached out for the stack of papers she'd been holding.

"Thank you notes for the rest of the wedding gifts from Lords and Dukes who didn't make it to the wedding," Attia answered as she handed them over. Finn nodded as he thumbed through the stack quickly. "And I put in your finances for the month. They should get to your desk by tonight. Both Casper and Keiro went over their allowances for this month, so I deducted the extra from the Wardendry's spending account to pay the Jeweler, the cellar keeper, the seamstress' office, the blacksmith, and the Master of the Stables. I also lowered the monthly amount that goes into the Wardendry since nobody accesses that account except me."

"Ok," Finn nodded as he pushed aside the stack of paper's she brought him. "Can you tell Claudia we lowered the amount into the account every month because her father is… god knows where?"

"You want me to tell her news that is potentially detrimental to your relationship?" Attia clarified, earning a stare from Finn. "Just making sure," she said when he let his look convey his response.

"You just said she doesn't access that account anyway."

"She doesn't have access to it, Finn," Attia answered. "It belongs to the Warden and she won't be the Warden until her father is dead or presumed to be dead for two years."

"Fine," Finn said. "Just don't tell her you use it to cover Casper and Keiro's spending."

"Of course not. You can do that one yourself," Attia assured him before she glanced around the room. "Why are there so many Royal Guardsmen around here today?" she asked curiously when her gaze returned to Finn.

"Come to the next Council meeting," he answered as he met her gaze. "Tomorrow at three."

"Do I have to?" she replied. In the last year, she'd enjoyed the quiet of Court during Council meeting she conveniently forgot to attend on a regular basis.

"I want your opinion on something," Finn told her.

"Alright," Attia agreed, though he knew it was not out of her own interests. When Lady Morgan giggled again, both fought their annoyance before Attia turned to leave the room. She was not required to be there at all times the way Finn was, and she took full advantage of such a privilege. It did not escape Attia that in her strange position as a woman technically in the King's household she was able to escape the everyday gossip and nuisances that was the Queen's household while also avoiding the masses of the King's household under the pretense that she was a woman somehow trapped in a man's world. Nor did the reasons Attia so vehemently deny joining the Queen's household escape Finn. Attia could manipulate Finn in a way Claudia never would, but it would take a fool to think it meant anything more than that wordless bond she, Finn, and Keiro shared.

As she stepped into the hallway, the door shut behind her, and blocked out the sound of Morgan mid-giggle, an instant relief. She walked down the hallway with the intent of returning to her office, which was now a much larger and comfortable room that she no longer shared with others, she heard the sound of heels clicking against the wooden boards the floor. Silently hoping it was a maid hand, Anne, or Claudia, Attia continued forward. She had no patience for the female courtiers. Thankfully, it was Claudia and Anne who led a small group of women around the corner. At the same time, Attia heard the door to Finn's office open and shut, but she didn't turn back to see who'd exited the room.

"Attia," Claudia called. "We just came looking for you. Wondered if you wanted to go for a ride." Attia held Claudia's gaze as the Queen spoke, but noticed her attention had been pulled from Attia to something behind her. Attia turned to see what had distracted Claudia, only to find Lady Morgan leading Keiro down the hallway by the hand. As Attia looked back at Claudia and Anne, they met her gaze.

"Where are you ladies headed to?" Keiro asked casually as he and Morgan approached the group. When Attia turned, and he noticed her, he withdrew his hand from Morgan, but only Attia and Claudia even noticed the movement. It had appeared so natural to everyone else, including sweet and somewhat naive Anne.

"We're going out for a ride," Anne answered. Attia screwed her eyes shut as she bit back a remark and held back a stare. Even Claudia reacted to Anne's admission but nobody said anything. Except Morgan.

"Oh, it's a beautiful day for a ride! I hope you don't mind if I'd join you," she exclaimed as she beamed towards Claudia. Then Anne realized what she had done and let out a breath.

In the moment of quiet, Keiro eyed Attia, then Claudia carefully, gauging their responses to Morgan. "Well, actually it was just going to be myself, Anne, and Attia, Lady Morgan," Claudia responded with her diplomatic smile. But only Attia and Keiro could recognize it.

"Well, I haven't been able to do much for you since I've been at Court. I would like to get to know you, Your Majesty," Morgan replied, focused only on Claudia. Only Keiro noticed Attia roll her eyes at the girl.

"Well, if you're free from entertaining the High Duke," Claudia replied and Attia turned to look at her, jaw tensed, eyes widened, ready to flee if Morgan would be anywhere near them for the duration of the ride.

"I am," Morgan answered, seemingly to be only slightly embarrassed at how Claudia described her time spent with Keiro but wouldn't dare correct her.

"Then you can accompany the other ladies back to my chambers and finish organizing all those wedding gifts," Claudia replied. Morgan's face fell slightly, but she forced a smile and nodded once before dropping into a half curtsey.

"Of course, Your Majesty," she responded gently before she joined the ranks of the women who'd followed Claudia and Anne around the corner. When Claudia looked up at Keiro, he stared at her with narrowed eyes. She nodded at him once before she turned and began leading the way down the hallway. Attia and Anne followed on each side of her, both grinning as they bit back laughter. Keiro stalked behind them, poking his head into the space between Anne and Claudia.

"That was a little harsh, Claudia," he commented well aware the other ladies behind them could hear their conversation but not really caring enough to stop him.

"She doesn't get special treatment because you're attracted to her, Keiro," Claudia answered. Though she knew the comment was somewhat detrimental to Morgan's image among the other women, she hardly cared.

"Anne gets special treatment because Casper's attracted to her," Keiro replied with a well thought-out and acceptable response.

"I like Anne," Claudia answered.

"You like Morgan," Keiro said. Even he knew that was a stretch, but said it anyway for the sake of argument.

"Attia likes Anne."

"Those are not fair standards," he declared as he stopped walking. The three women who all but ran Court turned back to face him as well.

"What part of those standards are not fair, Keiro?" Attia questioned. He stared at her for a long moment, knowing any possible answer he had couldn't be said in public. He was also aware it wasn't his place to force the three to accept any of his romantic interests into their circle. With a groan, he waved his hand at the three in a gesture of defeat.

"Fine," he told him bitterly as he narrowed his eyes at them. "I hope you get attacked on your ride," he commented in a jokingly tone of voice as he turned away from them and began walking in the opposite direction.

"That's treason, Keiro," Claudia called back at him. He only raised one arm and waved it back at her without even looking back. With laughs, the three women turned back to continue their walk to the stables. After a few more hallways, the women behind them split away to head towards the Queen's chambers to complete their assigned task. In the privacy, the three struck up conversation they could not have had otherwise.

"That was a little mean," Anne said. She was the only one to feel for Morgan, but she was the only one of the three who was not of great importance at Court. To some extent, that excluded her from her closest friends at Court. But at the same time, she was excluded from the other ladies and lords at Court who were in her same ranking. By having such high ranking friends, she wasn't a favorite to keep around when the lower classes were up to things they shouldn't be.

"It's not like she honestly believes she had a chance to stay with us," Attia replied. "She really can't think we're going to invite her just because Keiro's lonely."

"Maybe she just wants company," Anne answered. Though it was naive, neither of her companions replied. They knew it was simply Anne's nature to see the best in everybody and it was that trait that Casper had been so attracted to in the beginning. "She's not well liked by the others," Anne admitted, but only Claudia showed interest in what she'd said.

"Why?" she asked. Though Claudia did care about the well being of her ladies, it was difficult for her to really know about them and their lives. She simply couldn't fit in with them enough for her to know the details. As Queen, she was their mistress and not their friend. Very few would trust her with their secrets for that simple reason. Anne, however, did have the opportunity to bond with the other ladies as she was one of them herself.

"The only ladies who want to spend any time with her only do so because they think that she's-" Anne stopped speaking so suddenly that Claudia and Attia turned to look at her. Her eyes had widened as she snapped her mouth shut, though it did nothing to suck the words back into her mouth.

"Think she's what, Anne?" Attia probed.

"That she going to be the… the High Duchess of the Realm," Anne answered slowly, keeping her eyes on Attia but didn't get the response she'd been expecting. Instead of heartbreak or pain, Attia displayed only mild curiosity or feigned interest.

"So they're just playing nice in case she gets power?" Claudia asked when she was sure Attia would not respond to the idea of Morgan as Keiro's wife.

"Yeah, I mean she doesn't have any real friends. I have, you know, one or two in the Seamstress' office, but Morgan just has none," Anne said.

"Why only one or two?" Attia laughed. "Everybody loves you. Its ridiculous."

"Because most of the women at Court, especially the ladies-in-waiting, think that I just…" Anne trailed off as she kept her gaze forward.

"Fooled Casper for your own ends?" Claudia asked, but Anne only nodded slowly.

"They exclude me from a lot of things," she admitted but said nothing further on the matter. "It's that Morgan was only here for a week or two before she started flirting with Keiro, and a lot of the women think that says she's only here to get a husband. And since the King is already married and Casper otherwise preoccupied, she went for the next best thing. The three highest titles a woman can get around here are Queen, Princess, and High Duchess, and she's set her sights on one of them."

"She really thinks he's going to marry her?" Attia asked and Anne only shrugged.

"She hasn't admitted it as far as I know, but you've seen the way she acts."

"Maybe somebody should clue her in. Keiro isn't what he seems like the first night. Or the second night for that matter," Attia commented. It was a rare occurrence that she spoke of her intimate relations with Keiro, but it was also a different setting when it was only the three friends. It wasn't the same as when having dinner with their male counterparts.

"Well how many nights before he actually shows who he is?" Claudia asked curiously. She thought she might've crossed a line when Attia didn't respond, but when Claudia looked to Attia, she wasn't pained by the memory. Instead, Attia seemed somewhat confused.

"I don't know," she admitted as she turned to Claudia. "I don't really know if he put that much effort into pretending to be who he wanted to be because I already knew going in."

"Maybe that's who he is, then," Anne commented.

"What?" Attia asked and Anne looked up at her, somewhat taken by surprise.

"I just mean that it's one thing for twenty girls to spend the night with a man when he's done everything in his power to convince them he's someone he wants to be and have them all fall in love with him and want to stay with him. But for a girl to know who he is and stay anyway is…" Anne trailed off when Attia's face changed. "I mean, I don't really know what Keiro's like because you don't really say, and even Casper says that he can change his personality to fit any kind of situation. I'm just rambling now," she said and cleared her throat as she turned away from Claudia and Attia. Neither said anything, but Claudia touched Attia's arms gently before the three crossed the threshold of the main entrance into Court.

Anne was a simple country girl who grew up on a farm. Her mother taught her how to sew and she got so good at it, she was offered an opportunity of a lifetime to go to Court as the King's seamstress. Yet she could see things in a way nobody else could, even when she wasn't sure what she was looking at. It amazed Attia and Claudia how someone like Casper could get a woman like Anne who in a backwards world just happened to be born on a farm instead of in a manor to nobles. She would've gone so much higher than the Prince's mistress if ever given a real chance reserved for nobility, and yet she was so content with her place in life. All Claudia and Attia knew as they stared at each other with equal bewilderment was that in all his faults, at least Casper wasn't foolish enough to cast Anne aside when he thought he was through with her.


	3. Chapter 3

At the time Finn had told her, Attia walked into the Council meeting hall, finding only one seat open for her beside Finn. It didn't really surprise her that Keiro, Casper, and Claudia were missing from the proceedings. Why Finn had requested that she attend the meeting but not anyone else was beyond her.

"Are we ready now?" Vega asked as he peered up at Finn, then Attia briefly. Finn only nodded before he straightened the stack of papers on the table in front of him. "We've narrowed it down to thirty men, but I think we should start with a smaller group than that," Vega declared, leaving Attia to simply catch up on the topic that had apparently been discussed previously.

"Men for what?" she asked as she stared at the councilmen, then turned to Finn. "Why am I here?"

"You get to finalize the twenty lucky men who are to be the Realm's first Knights," Finn said. Attia only stared at him like he'd somehow lost his mind. "What?" he asked when she said nothing further.

"Why me?"

"You train with them all the time, Attia," he answered. It was common knowledge that Attia often joined the Royal Guard during their training sessions whenever her work load seemed to overwhelm her.

"That doesn't mean I want to pick them out. And why are we adding another class of Royal Guards?"

"It was brought to my attention that a lot of the Royal Guardsmen aren't rewarded as highly as they should be. If they make Knight they're automatically nobility," Finn explained but Attia rolled her eyes as she turned away from him.

"Well, start with Charles then," she said simply.

"He's on the list," Vega said as he leaned forward to hand Attia a piece of paper. "We want to pick only the top twenty men for now," he explain hen Attia had taken the list from him.

"When do you want a final list?" Attia asked as she looked down at the sheet. Though she didn't address her question to anyone in particular, Finn was the assumed recipient of the question.

"Before we leave for Progress," he answered.

"When do we leave?"

"Two weeks. You might want to tell Keiro."

"Nope," Attia replied as she peered up at Finn. "He's your High Duke and your problem."

"You're not avoiding him now, are you?" Finn asked.

"No, of course not," Attia answered, her tone of voice refusing to tell anybody she was hurting. No matter how hard people looked, nobody could find her heart break. Most likely because it wasn't there, or so she convinced everyone around her. "Lady Morgan, however," Attia added and Finn groaned. He could not stand her any more than Attia could. He had a feeling that even if Keiro wasn't pursuing her, Attia still wouldn't care for the girl anymore than she did.

"I'll summon him or something," Finn resolved as he shrugged.

"You might want to mention his overzealous spending," Attia commented as she folded the list of names and tucked it into the pocket of her jacket. "He's already gone through a quarter of his monthly allowance."

"Buying what?" Finn demanded, his anger misplaced on Attia instead of Keiro.

"Looks like he bought Lady Morgan a bracelet of some sort, then bribed the Master of the Armory to let them look in the vaults beneath the palace because the Armory sent a request for payment for a sword."

"A sword?" Finn repeated. "They said he bought a sword?"

"A dueling sword with blunted edges, and sapphires set in the gold overlay of the handle," Attia answered. Finn groaned as he directed his gaze to his stack of papers.

"Why would anyone want to go to the vaults?" he asked, though the question was more opened ended than directed at Attia.

"Well, it's quiet down there and if you go during the shift change you can get passed the guard and-" Attia stopped speaking when Finn looked at her bewildered.

"Why do you know that?" he asked curiously, unable to keep the amused smile off his lips.

She narrowed her eyes at him, armed with a well thought out lie but settled on the truth instead. "Keiro and I might have been fairly drunk and decided the vaults were an ideal place to… spend time," she said as she cleared her throat and turned away from Finn.

"For what it's worth, I hear she's not cooperating as well as he'd hoped," Finn commented when Attia had turned to leave the Council meeting hall. When she reached the door, she shrugged and peered over her shoulder at him.

"Makes no difference to me, Finn," she told him before she left the room. After looking over the list of potentials Knights of the Realm, and giving each name serious consideration, Attia decided on joining the Guardsmen for their daily training. After changing into more appropriate clothing and gathering her sword, she walked out to the grounds and found the designated training section fenced off with lower wood fences. As she approached, she watched the two men engaged in sword combat, but turned away when she reached the tent where the spare armor and weapons were kept.

"Lady Attia," the armory servant greeted her with a wide smile as she entered the tent. "Just in time. I polished your armor last night."

"My armor?" she repeated and he laughed as he gathered pieces of armor from around the tent.

"Well, for all intents and purposes. After all, you are the smallest to engage in training, so you're the only one to wear it," he told her as he strapped the metal pieces to her chest and body. After she'd crudely braided her hair back, he handed her a smaller fitting helmet.

"Thank you, John," she told him as she exited the tent into the fenced off area.

"Rough day, Lady Attia?" Charles asked as she neared him. He was standing off to the far side of the area watching the men fight.

"Not really," she admitted as she watched as well. "Just figured I'd stop by. Has the King spoken to you about anything lately?"

"Here for the Knights, then," he surmised and she nodded as she laughed.

"Pair me up with some of the best, then?" she requested and he nodded before turned to his left where scores of men stood up. After she put on her helmet, she swung her sword to loosen up her arms and shoulders. One thing she knew for certain was that Charles' men were highly adaptive. For the most part, they fought against her as they would any other man. On the few days she was off or injured, she noticed they'd adapted to accommodate her slower reactions or sluggish movements. Never had they hurt her, intentionally or otherwise. Charles' men didn't have accidents.

As the pair who'd been fighting previously left the space, Attia took her place. She watched as one of the men on Finn's list approached Charles, then the center of the area near her. He put on his helmet before he armed himself with his sword. Before they'd engaged in combat, Attia and the man, who she knew as Mason Richardson, noticed Claudia and a few of her ladies, including Anne and Morgan, approach the training area. Charles made appropriate small talk with Claudia before he motioned to Attia and Mason.

"That man is quite small. I'm not sure he really stands a chance," Morgan commented. Claudia and Anne already knew it was in fact Attia, who had as good a chance as anyone else, but said nothing.

"You may be surprised, Lady Morgan," Charles said simply before he looked back at Attia and Mason. "Begin!"

The first few strikes were nothing but tests. He tested her defenses and reflexes. Her step work, her balance. Then he began the real attacks, most of which Attia had defended quite well. She'd even managed her own few hits. She, of course, wasn't a trained Guardsmen, but all the men knew her to be quite a talented swordsmen regardless. The noises the ladies made as they watched were drowned out by the sound of metal clashing against metal, not that Attia would've been able to pay them attention anyway. With some odd accident, she'd lost her footing and fell back, but Mason had not held back. With one well placed kick, his helmet had been violently removed from his head. She'd landed a second kick that momentarily unarmed him, but had also provided her valuable seconds to get to her feet again.

As they circled, neither making advancements, Mason grinned at her. He twisted his fingers around the handle of his sword before he tested her again. But Attia didn't respond to the second round of tests after the fall the same way she had the first round. When he'd extended his sword, she'd taken her shot, effectively catching him off guard. Within a series of well placed hits, only some of which had been defended, Mason lay on the ground, helmetless and swordless, at her mercy.

Claudia and her ladies clapped momentarily until Attia withdrew her sword from Mason and stepped back. She reached up to remove her helmet, revealing her identity to those in Claudia's group who hadn't been aware.

"Lady Attia!" Morgan declared. "You could've been killed!"

Mason saw Attia rolled her eyes, and even heard her groan as he approached her after getting to his feet. "A new addition to the Queen's household?" he asked as he glanced over Attia's head at the women.

"So they tell me," Attia answered.

"Not a fan?"

"Did you not hear her?"

"She's concerned for your well being," Mason said as he offered to take her sword and helmet in addition to his own. Even on the pretend battlefield, Charles' men were chivalrous.

"She fancies herself the High Duchess," Attia commented. Mason had let out only a breath at the revelation. Before it was clear he would awkwardly say nothing on the topic, they reached Charles who started his own conversation with Attia.

"You're sharper than usual," he said as he stepped around her to help unbuckle her armor. "Getting the drop on Mason isn't a small feat."

"I think I tripped," Mason said.

"No that was me," Attia replied with a laugh. He smiled at her before he kissed the back of her hand respectfully and set her sword and helmet to the side.

"A rematch when you're up to it, then," he said before he nodded to her once, and retreated to the ranks of the men.

After Attia had been removed of her armor, the armory servant carried the armor away leaving only her sword. "How does he hold up?" Charles asked.

"Well," she answered. "Is he your favorite?" she asked as Claudia and the other ladies approached them.

"If I had to pick a few, he'd be one of them, yeah," Charles answered with a nod.

"If you were to retire and had to choose your replacement," Attia responded, and Charles laughed as he nodded.

"Mason is it," he told her. "My Lady," he nodded respectfully in Anne's direction before turning to Claudia. "Your Majesty, please excuse me," he said with a slight bow before he returned to the training of his men.

"That was impressive," Claudia commented as she turned to Attia.

"They don't fight me the way they do each other," Attia assured them. She swung one leg over the low fence to join Claudia and Anne on the other side. "What you up to out here?"

"Going for a walk," Claudia answered with a shrug. "How are the finances?"

"They're fine," Attia answered, slightly confused at the question. "Why do you ask?"

"You only come out here when something's bothering you."

"I came because Finn asked me to watch a few of the Guardsmen," Attia answered with a shrug. "But I've already got piles of paperwork of requests for payment for the next month already."

"How?" Claudia replied. "The new month barely started."

"Keiro already spent a quarter of his allowance," Attia said, obviously annoyed at all the extra work he'd been creating for her.

"On what?" Anne asked with a laugh.

"He bribed the Master of the Amory for something," Attia commented as the three stopped walking momentarily. Claudia had turned slightly, as though wanting to get a better look at the landscape, but Attia and Anne noticed her steal a glance at Morgan. She'd suddenly lowered her gaze to the grass, but made no other movements.

"Bribes show up on the paperwork?" Anne asked curiously.

"No, but ridiculous purchases do. And I know Keiro. He bribed him so he could take some stupid girl down there and pretend to know all the history of the artifacts. Or just to have sex," Attia said as she shrugged. Claudia fought the smile on her face as best she could but it had become difficult when Morgan's face had suddenly turned red. Anne caught on to what the pair were doing but didn't contribute.

Before anyone said anything else anyway, Claudia caught sight of Mason, now removed of his armor, running towards the group. "Lady Attia!" he called to grab her attention. When he reached the group, he nodded respectfully to Claudia before he looked at Attia.

"Mason?" she asked, well aware Claudia's ladies were currently admiring his form now that he was clothed with only one shirt that clung to his skin from the sweat of training all day.

"The Armory is sending for half of the Royal Guards' weapons to be sharpened and repaired. Charles wanted to know if you'd like him to send your sword as well," he explained, keeping his eyes on Attia. He looked down only to look at the sword she held in her hand. When he'd become aware he was quite literally dripping sweat, he'd reached up to smear the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Yeah, that's fine," Attia said as she held her sword up for him. "Thank you, Mason."

"Of course, my lady," he replied with a slow nod. "They're due back in a week. If you'd like to train with us before then, you're free to use one my swords. I have one similar in weight and length to yours."

"I'll take you up on that," Attia replied as she smiled at him. She'd started to turn away from him, but he'd stopped her by reaching out to touch her arm with his hand. "Yes?" she asked as she turned back to him again. "Something else you need?"

"I always enjoy sparring with you, but next time I won't trip," he warned and she laughed as she turned away from him and continued forward with Claudia and Attia.

"Tripping is not the same as falling, Sir Mason," Attia called back to him without looking at him again. As she walked with Claudia and Anne, she could feel their gazes lingering on her, both grinning too widely for their own good. "Stop looking at me like that," she sighed without meeting either of their glances.

"He's quite the swordsman," Claudia said, her words innocent enough but her tone implying something further.

"He's a Royal Guardsman, Claudia. That's the point," Attia answered, finally meeting her gaze. "Stop it," she repeated when she saw the look on Claudia's face.

"I didn't do anything," Claudia replied.

"I can hear what you're thinking and you're wrong," Attia answered simply as she turned to look forward. "It's part of my job to pay attention to the Guardsmen."

"You handle finances, Attia."

"I do odd jobs, too. Beats changing your sheets and cleaning your dresses," she replied as she looked at Claudia again.

"Whatever you say."


	4. Chapter 4

Within a week, Attia had finalized the list names to the top twenty Guardsmen she believed most talented and skilled. Finn and Charles simply looked over the list and after finding it quite acceptable, the arrangements for the Knighting ceremony began. The women scrambled to find the perfect dress while the men had last minute alterations to their dress clothes. As such, the Seamstress' office had more orders than usual, and Anne had volunteered to work to help get as many orders completed as possible.

After Attia had finished the final touches on Finn's speech, she stopped at the Seamstress' office to see Anne. "Busy?" she asked as she leaned over Anne's work area. The majority of the table was covered by royal silver and black fabric as she delicately but quickly sewed a silver button onto the coat.

"I'm almost done actually," Anne answered. "I designed the coats for the Knights."

"Congratulations," Attia chuckled. "I like them," she said when Anne had held it up for her to see.

"I'm sure Mason will look very handsome in it," Anne teased and Attia rolled her eyes.

Before she could respond, somebody else spoke. "Who's Mason?" Casper asked as he let himself past the front desk of the office and approached Anne's work table. A few of the other ladies curtseyed to him as he passed them by.

"Nobody," Attia said with a groan. "You two need to let it go," she added when she looked at Anne.

"Attia has a crush," Anne said and Attia groaned again.

"Really?" Casper grinned as he looked up at Anne. "That'll drive Keiro mad, you know."

"I don't have a crush, and even if I did, Keiro has no room to be mad, jealous, or anything else about it," Attia declared. "What are you even doing here, Casper? You don't wear your dress coat enough for it to need mending."

"No need for the attacks because you have a crush," Casper replied, grinning even more when Attia appeared more annoyed than before. "I came to see Anne, by the way. She's been holed up in here for three days now, and I'm starting to get a little lonely," he said as he leaned over to put a kiss on her cheek. "You haven't been around in a while, Anne."

"I've been here."

"All night?" he questioned.

"You were asleep when I-" Anne stopped speaking as she cleared her throat. Even though all of Court knew the nature of their relationship, she still was too embarrassed to speak about the intimate details in front of others. In a hushed voice, she continued, "you were already asleep when I went to your room last night, and I didn't want to wake you."

Attia only laughed as she watched the pair. Without bidding goodbye, she left the office to head towards Finn's office. The room was uncharacteristically empty as it was whenever a big event was coming. Finn was behind his desk as usual, with his ever present, all purpose page boy. Against the back wall, Keiro and Lady Morgan were whispered like a pair of forbidden lovers.

"Your speech," Attia said as she handed the page over to Finn. At the sound of her voice, Keiro turned to the desk, removing his arm from Lady Morgan as he did so.

"I hear you have a date to the Knighting ceremony," Keiro called out. Attia narrowed her eyes at him as she stared across the room. When she said nothing he cleared his throat before speaking again. "One of the Knights, I heard."

"Damn it," Attia groaned as she looked down at Finn. "You're not going to have wife anymore, Finn, if she keeps telling everybody about Mason!" she threatened, obviously believing her words as he glared down at him. "And don't repeat that to anyone!" she turned her angry words to Keiro and Lad Morgan. "Either of you. If one more persons even mentions it-"

"Ok," Finn said, stopping her before she started spilling other things she wasn't exactly happy about. "I'll let Claudia know then. But for the record, I haven't heard anything about you and Mason."

"I don't like him," Attia said, as though she hadn't already made that clear.

"Who?" A voice called from behind and she turned to see who had come into the room.

"Mason," she said, genuinely surprised at his presence. She could hear Keiro snickering on the other side of the room, but she ignored him as best she could. "You have my sword," she said as she looked down at the sword he held in his hand.

"Yes," he answered as he crossed into the room and held the handle of the sword out to her. "Repaired, sharpened, and cleaned. Even the jewels."

"Thank you," Attia replied with a warm smile as she pulled the sword from the sheath to look at the blade.

"Of course," he responded before he nodded to Finn. "Your Majesty."

"Ready for the ceremony?" Finn asked. Mason laughed as he smiled widely and nodded.

"Yes, I believe so. My mother came to Court today to see it."

"I'm sure she's proud," Finn replied with a matching smile. "You've earned it… Knight Mason."

"Well, not yet, Your Majesty," he laughed before he bowed slightly and turned to leave the room. When he'd gone, Attia turned back to Finn, one hand on the handle of her sword.

"Are you sure you don't like him?" Morgan asked, teasingly, but when Attia glared up at her, Keiro pulled Morgan back even though the entire room separated the two women.

"Not when she's armed, Morgan," Keiro muttered in her ear. Attia took in a slow breath before she turned to leave the room.

On the morning of the ceremony, Attia carried her dress and shoes to Claudia's chambers, opting to take advantage of the presence of all her ladies-in-waiting rather than struggle to dress herself. When she entered the main room of the Queen's household, she found two women helping Claudia with her hair while one helped Anne. Though Anne was technically of the same ranking as all of Claudia's other ladies, she was not treated as such. She was actually of a lower ranking than most given her commoner heritage, but treated like a noblewoman by everyone. One giveaway of that was the quality of Anne's dress. It appeared fit for a Princess simply because Casper did enjoy spending his money buying lavish gifts for her.

"The screen is over there," Anne said when she noticed Attia wander into the room. She pointed to the far corner of the room where a dressing screen was set up. After slipping into her best dress, she stepped out and turned so that one of Claudia's ladies could lace her corset. Though she hadn't expected anything else, she was led to one of the vanity tables and two of Claudia's ladies worked quickly in curling her long locks and styling them up.

"Wear this one," Claudia suggested as she held out a pearl necklace for Attia to take.

"No," Attia answered as she shook her head. "I don't like necklaces."

"You always wore that silver one," Claudia commented. Attia only shrugged at the reply, deciding it wasn't the right setting to tell Claudia how she'd acquired that necklace. Needless to say, she hadn't worn it since she and Keiro split. "Well what about a bracelet?"

"They bother me, Claudia. I didn't even want my hair done."

"Stop being so difficult," Claudia chided as she retreated into another room. In a few minutes, she returned holding a number of different jewelry pieces. When Anne's hair had been completed, she wandered over as well. The women who had done Attia's hair stepped away as well, leaving Claudia and Anne standing behind Attia, picking out different jewelry pieces to dress her up in.

"No," Attia protested at every suggestion.

"I love those pearls," Anne commented and Claudia only laughed as she handed the matching necklace and bracelet set to her. "Oh, I couldn't."

"Put them on, Anne," Claudia replied as she turned back to Attia. "I think Casper is getting you some anyway," she added.

"He isn't, I'm sure," Anne replied as she admired herself in the mirror. With one finger, she traced the string of pearls around her neck before she shook her wrist to feel the pearls slide around her arm.

"Here, at least wear this one," Claudia said as she put a necklace around Attia's neck before she could protest. Attia hadn't wanted to wear any jewelry, but that was now a useless resolution. Claudia had thankfully chosen a simple chain necklace from which a beautiful sapphire pendant hung. The jewel matched the blue velvet of her gown and the chain matched the silver trim.

"I think you look quite lovely," Lady Morgan commented. The three, who had been unaware she was present, turned to her, each smiling politely. "Of course, the Crown Jewels can make anybody look their best, I'm sure."

Unsure of how to respond to such a comment, Attia lifted the bottom of her skirt from the floor as she started walking towards the door. "Well, I need to go see Finn and make sure Keiro and Casper are actually dressed and not too drunk yet, so I will see you in the ballroom," she said to Claudia and Anne. As she turned to the door, she glanced at Lady Morgan for only a moment. When she left the room, Claudia and Anne admired one another as some of the ladies-in-waiting excused themselves from the room as well. Now that everybody was dressed and prepared, they were free to leave, and Claudia had never been to strict about her ladies always attending to her. Eventually, only Lady Morgan remained in the room with Claudia and Anne.

"I don't want to be too forward, Your Majesty," Lady Morgan started, pulling Claudia and Anne's attention to her, "but is it not an odd occurrence for another woman to remain in your husband's household even after you have married?"

"No," Claudia answered simply. "And if you're suggesting that my husband and Lady Attia are involved in any way, you are too forward."

"No, of course not," Lady Morgan replied. "I just think it's curious, I suppose, for a woman to want to remain in the King's household rather than join that of her Queen's."

"You've met her, Lady Morgan," Claudia said. "She wouldn't fit in here. Of that much, you should be aware."

"Of course," Morgan answered as she nodded. Silence followed for a few moments until Morgan stepped forward towards the pair. "Would it be out of line to ask about Lady Attia and Keiro?"

"Yes," Claudia answered simply.

"It just that he doesn't say anything about her."

"Then he agrees."

In Finn's private rooms, Attia found him, Keiro, and Casper preparing themselves for the ceremony with the help of two page boys. "Do you have my speech?" Finn asked as he glanced at Attia's reflection in the mirror.

"Yes," she answered as she approached him and handed him a paper. As the two men finished dusting off his coat and making sure it fit properly, he stepped away from the mirror as he skimmed over the speech. Turning to Casper, Attia asked, "are you planning on buying Anne pearls?"

"No, why?" he responded with narrowed eyes.

"Claudia might've put the idea in her head," Attia replied.

"Damn it," Casper sighed as he turned away. Attia only laughed as she approached him and looked over his appearance. The three had opted for traditional dress and all were garbed in the royal colors. "You look sharp," he commented as he looked at Attia. "And you're taller," he added when he noticed the top of her head reached his shoulders.

"Claudia and Anne may have convinced me to wear heels," Attia admitted.

"And your hair is curly," Finn said when he peered up at her and took a moment to actually look at her.

"Yes," Attia replied. "Thank you. You both are so good at discerning the obvious."

"Don't be bitter," Casper told her. "You're even wearing jewelry, Attia. Did you feel like being pretty tonight?"

"What?" Attia snapped as she narrowed her eyes at him. She noticed Keiro look in her direction, but he wisely kept his silence. "No, don't be stupid. It's a state event."

"You never do your hair," Casper said.

"Since when do you pay attention to anything other than you?" Attia replied sharply but Casper only grinned at her.

"Have a date?"

"No," Attia snapped before she turned to Keiro. She checked his appearance, but said nothing to him before she turned to Finn. "So, just go to the back entrance of the ballroom, and you'll be announced," she told Finn before she lifted her dress and began walking towards the door.

"Aren't you going to be there?" Finn asked. She paused for a moment before she turned back to him.

"No, I took my name off of the announcer's prompt," she explained. "Just the six of you, and after you give the speech, I'll come up to the High Table."

Nobody knew how to respond to what Attia had said, so she left the room in silence, letting the door shut behind her.


	5. Chapter 5

When Attia arrived in the ballroom, she found Charles and quickly engaged him in conversation. "You look stunning," he told her as he kissed the back of her hand. "Why are you among us common courtiers rather than putting the King together for his great event?" he asked curiously.

"He's all put together already," she replied with a gentle laugh.

"I'm sorry about you and Keiro," Charles commented.

"Oh, come on," Attia sighed as she turned away from him. "Not you too."

"Hear me out," he pleaded as he put a finger on her chin and turned her head towards him. Though it seemed like an intimate gesture, Attia and Charles had grown close over the time she spent with him and the Guardsmen during training. "I know you've mastered the art of hiding how you feel. And god knows everybody is looking for some little ounce of hurt in you somewhere but unable to find it at all."

"Are you done?" she asked.

"If you need anything, Attia. You never have to hesitate to ask, I hope you know."

"Thank you for the offer, Charles. But I am fine."

"Well, in that case, might I make a suggestion?"

"You'll make it whether I say yes or not," she replied.

Charles chuckled as he raised his glass to his lips and took a sip. "Very well. If you truly are fine, then perhaps you should consider opening your heart a bit wider."

"Excuse me?" Attia asked as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"You and the High Duke were linked for, what? Over a year? And to walk away from that is painful enough, let alone watch the man flaunt every foolish girl he can get his hands on. If none of that bothers you, maybe you never let him in at all."

Attia was quiet as she let Charles' words soak in. She tried not to pay them heed, but she had no such luck in expelling the words from her mind.

"But of course, that's not true is it?" he continued, earning a heavy sigh from Attia. "Only somebody absolutely foolish could believe you and the High Duke didn't care for each other as much as you're both pretending now."

"What makes you believe that?" she replied, her voice still even as though she was engaged in healthy debate about anything other than her emotion health. "Keiro and I argued all the time. We don't agree on anything. He's always wrong and assumes he's right. That's infuriating." Attia had let her words flow unchecked in that quick moment, and she realized she'd said more about Keiro than she had in a while.

"Attia, darling," Charles smiled down at her as he touched her arm with his free hand. "If my wife and I had fought once the way you and Keiro had every other day, we'd probably still be together."

"That makes no sense," she declared as she turned away from him. Before she could get anywhere, he'd pulled her back, though he'd hardly but any pressure on her arm. She'd turned back to him on her own accord.

"When you don't care at all, you don't care enough to fight, Attia," he said. "When you do care, fighting is inevitable. And you and Keiro, you fought a lot."

"Then why aren't we still together? Because according to your relationship equation we should be," she replied, smiling an amused grin.

"A real conversation can do wonders, my lady," he responded as he lowered his head in a slight bow towards her. "Or in the case of you and the stubborn High Duke, a real argument might work a bit better in terms of actually occurring." Attia laughed at his assessment of their relationship, but before she responded, the announcer stepped out onto the small steps and clicked his glass to gather the crowd's attention.

High Duke Keiro and Lady Morgan were announced first, and descended the stairs arm in arm. Attia watched the pair as they walked, Morgan expertly lifting the bottom of her dress with her free hand as she stepped down each step in her heels. She looked so natural in her movements that Keiro, even in all his grace, looked a little clumsy beside a woman who'd been taught the ways of a lady all her life. For some reason, seeing Keiro less fluid as he usually was made Attia feel something she couldn't really place. It was just so odd to see him that way.

Prince Casper and the Lady Anne were announced second. With wide, genuine smiles, they walked down the stairs, hand in hand. Anne let her dress scrape the floor as she walked. She was far more interested in the crowd for the few seconds it took to descend the stairs. When they'd reached the bottom, however, all of her interest shifted on Casper, and his onto her. In front of all of Court, they shared a gentle kiss, and Casper had even reached up to touch her chin with his fingers. Even if Finn and Claudia were Court's favorite couple, Casper and Anne had a way of melting even the most frozen of hearts. Their story was just all the more touching, and unfortunately, a blood royal marrying a girl raised to be queen couldn't compete with a wild step-brother prince who could only be tamed by a farm girl without a title.

Finally, King Giles and Queen Claudia stepped out last, arm in arm and all smiles. A round of applause followed their entrance as they descended the steps, but paused at the last one. Over the last two and half years that Finn had been on the Outside, he'd perfected his diplomatic smile as well as his diplomatic wave, clap, and nod. Now, the picture perfect King, at least in the eyes of the public at large, he gave his simple speech, stumbling over one or two words as he forgot the exact wording.

After the words, Claudia led Casper, Anne, and Keiro to the High Table while Finn took his place in the front of the table. Attia had slipped around the crowd to step up to the High Table as well, finding her place between Claudia and Anne. Though she was technically in Finn's household, it made more sense for her to join the female side of the table than the male. The five stood in front of their seats while Finn read down the list of names. One by one, each Guardsman made their way to the center of the ballroom, which had been cleared. In five rows of four, they aligned themselves, each one equally deserving of their new title.

In the front row, Charles and Mason were side by side, but Attia only watched Charles. She tried to expel his comments from her thoughts, but had little luck once her eyes found Lady Morgan among the crowd. Though she did attempt to include herself among Claudia, Anne, and Attia, Attia took some comfort in the fact she couldn't even dream of sitting at High Table. Unless of course she did actually marry Keiro. She had a better chance of joining the three ladies than becoming High Duchess, though, Attia reasoned.

At the end of each Guardsman's individual Knighting, Finn stepped up to the front of the High Table while the crowd clapped. Once the applause dwindled to another quiet, Finn turned back and looked to Claudia, nodding once. As Claudia stepped down from the High Table to join her husband, whispers traveled through the crowd.

"What are they doing?" Anne asked softly as she leaned into Attia. Attia, who usually knew everything about public events, only shook her head. When she turned to look to Casper and Keiro, they too seemed to waiting for Attia to answer their questions.

"In addition to all of our Knights, I've also decided to elevate someone else who is very close to me," Finn explained as Claudia came to his side and slipped her hand into his.

"What is he talking about?" Anne asked again.

"I have no idea," Attia replied sharply but under her breath as she kept her eyes forward.

"It was brought to my attention that as of right now, there isn't an heir to the Realm. And should anything happen to myself or the Queen, I'd like to think that everything is left in capable hands. So for that reason, for the first time, I'd like to introduce you to the Crown Heir, Lady Attia."

When Finn and Claudia turned back to her, both smiling kindly, all she saw were co-conspirators against her. Claudia motioned for her to join them, but Attia shook her head slightly as she remained where she stood. Only when Anne shoved her to the end of the table, did Attia reluctantly join the King and Queen. If the crowd was applauding at all, she wasn't paying attention.

"Smile, Attia," Finn said as he turned forward.

"No. I hate you both," she replied under her breath. Claudia laughed, but held her smile as the photographer kneeled in front of the three.

"Wave at least, then," Finn said.

"I'm going to kill you in your sleep, Finn," Attia answered before she smiled for the photo. After a little more political smiling, the three returned to the High Table. The meal was served and once some had finished eating, the center of the room became to fill with dancing couples. Other socialized around the tables. Attia was the first to escape the High Table, and as she moved through the crowd, Charles' arm found her arm again.

"I hope you've enjoyed your evening, Crown Heir," Charles greeted her with a smile.

"Congratulations, Knight Charles," she replied, ignoring her new title completely. He smiled as he nodded at her, accepting the friendly congratulatory kiss on his cheek she offered.

"I hope you're not running off just yet," he replied. She titled her head as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Whys that?"

"I'm pretty sure there's a Knight who would really like a dance with you," he answered and Attia groaned as she shut her eyes for a moment.

"You of all people shouldn't be listening to ridiculous Court rumors, Charles," she chastised.

"You're right," he agreed and continued, "and I've not a clue to which rumors you're talking about. I'm speaking on my own knowledge."

"Really?" she questioned, and he nodded. "And which Knight might you be referring to?"

Charles didn't answer right away, and his gaze had momentarily traveled away from Attia. When she turned to see what he was watching, she sighed as she turned back to him. Within a few moments, Mason had joined her and Charles.

"Lady Attia," he greeted her first, smiling brightly. "Commander," he said when he turned to Charles with a nod.

"What can I do for you, Mason?" he asked, keeping his smile and tone even.

"I wondered if you could tell me why you picked me," Mason replied. Charles laughed before he took a sip of his drink and peered down at Attia.

"That's a good question," Charles commented. "But you should know, it was Attia who had final say. She finalized the list a week ago, didn't you?"

Attia held Charles' gaze for a moment before she let out a breath. "Yes," she admitted. Charles laughed before he nodded at Mason, then Attia.

"If you'll excuse me," he said before he stepped away from the pair. Attia waited a moment before she met Mason's gaze, but he had hardly seemed to notice.

"You picked us?" he asked, as though he needed confirmation a second time.

"I was given a list to choose from," she answered as she started to turn away from him. As she walked, he followed alongside her. "Whoever put your name on that list, I don't know," she told him truthfully when she peered up to meet his gaze again.

"Well, I feel I must thank you anyway," he replied.

"That's unnecessary."

"Well, surely you've time for a dance or two," he said as he eyed her. His lips pulled up into a smile as he waited for her answer. With a breath, she nodded, and he laughed as he took her glass from her hand to place it on the tray of a passing server.

When they reached the center of the room, he placed a hand on the middle of her back while he took her hand with the other. Within a few moments, Mason proved himself as graceful on the dance floor as on the battlefield.

"I'm pleasantly surprised at your dancing skills, Mason," she told him honestly after he'd spun her during the dance. "Not many soldiers know where to put their feet. Or their hands," she laughed and he laughed as well.

"My mother was Courtier," he answered as the song came to an end. With his hand still on the small of her back, he lead her away from the center of the room and towards the edges of the ballroom. Though he'd intended to just get away from the dancers, she continued until they passed into the hallway adjacent to the ballroom. In the mostly empty space, they weren't as crowded and could hear each other much easier as well.

"But you're not from a noble family, Mason," Attia replied as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"She married below her station," he replied. "Lost her title, but not her Court education. Taught us all how to dance and hold our wine goblets while Dad taught us how to sharpen our farming tools."

Attia laughed at how he managed to describe his childhood in a couple of words. "She was the daughter of a Lord?"

"A Duke."

The shock must've shown on her face, since he nodded as though to verify what he'd said. "Which Duke?" she asked curiously as she held his gaze.

"He passed before King Giles ascended. The tile reverted back to the Throne, because he only had my mother. He had her officially stricken from the family after she married."

"That's quite a story, Mason," she admitted. Before he could respond, he heard his name being called out. "Are those your parents?" she asked curiously as she watched an older couple make their way through the crowd to reach them. He only nodded before they came to his side.

"We're so proud of you, Mason. It was a wonderful ceremony," his mother doted as she pulled him into an embrace and kissed his cheek. "Your brothers will be jealous, I'm sure." Mason only laughed as he returned her affections and hugged his father as well. Attia had started to move away from the family, but Mason had called attention to her before she had gone very far.

"This is Lady Attia," he said as he motioned to her. "Attia, this is my mother and my father."

"It's nice to meet you," she said as she turned to them. "I'm glad you enjoyed the ceremony. We all worked hard on it."

"You work for the Queen?" his father asked, the question a well meaning one.

"No," Attia answered as she shook her head. "I actually have a position in the King's household. I handle his finances as well some other things."

"A woman in the King's household usually only means one thing," he replied.

"Father," Mason chided. When Attia had looked up at him, she noticed his face had actually reddened a bit. She smiled as she tried not to laugh, but when he caught her staring, the red seemed to increase.

"Martin," his mother exclaimed as she turned to him angrily. "Lady Attia was one of the King's companions from…" she trailed off as she met Mason's stare when he'd finally turned away from Attia. When she turned back to his parents, she was more aware that his mother, a former courtier, was still well versed in Court life if she knew such a detail about Attia.

"I was in Incarceron with the King," Attia finally said when it was clear the three were unsure of how to approach the subject. "And I have no romantic relations with the King. He's very happily married and was devoted to Claudia long before they were ever married."

"I'm sorry," Martin replied. "I don't like Court. It seems I'm always stepping on toes." Attia saw Mason and his mother hold back their comments, but she only laughed as she nodded.

"I don't care for it much, either, actually," she admitted before she peered up at Mason. "Where do you live?" she asked curiously as she turned to his mother, who'd quickly smiled warmly. Attia knew she'd been at Court, for probably a good amount of time, but the smile she wore was warm and genuine. Attia had a feeling it was life away from Court and a simple marriage that had given her such a smile.

"In the Riverstone Providence," she answered.

"Near one of the major towns?"

"No, out in the country."

"Well, maybe when we're on Progress you should plan a trip to see the King, and your son."

"I'm going on Progress?" Mason asked, genuinely surprised as he stared at Attia. When she met his stare, she seemed equally surprised.

"You didn't know?" she replied.

"Nobody told me," he answered and Attia laughed.

"You'll be assigned someone to watch. Probably Finn or Claudia. It's not too big of a deal, Mason. But it will be a few months. I hope you can manage."

"I think I can make it," he answered with a slight laugh.

"If you'll excuse me," Attia said as she turned back to his parents. "I hope you enjoy your night and the rest of your stay. And any time you want to come to Court for a visit, you're more than welcome," she added.

"Oh, that's sweet, but we couldn't get passed the Guards," his mother replied.

"Just say you're my guests. I've got the Commander around my finger," Attia joked before she looked up at Mason. "Don't enjoy yourself too much," she warned before she started to walk away.

"Whys that?" he called after her. She paused and turned back to him before she answered.

"Wouldn't want you hung over for tomorrow's training session. You did want a rematch, didn't you?"

"Yes, because I tripped."

"No, Knight Mason. Because you fell."


	6. Chapter 6

"I'm going to kill you, Finn!" Attia declared as she strode into his office the next morning. The room was filled with various politicians, Councilmen, and other high ranking men, but she ignored them all as she moved to stand in front of his desk. "Crown Heir? Really? After everything we've done for you and that's what you do to me? You make me a pretend royal? Are you kidding?"

"You could be a little more appreciative," he answered calmly, having expected her to not be as accepting of the new position as most would have been.

"Appreciative?" she repeated as she put her hands on his desk and leaned forward. "Of what exactly? Do you have any idea how many men came up to me last night and tried to- There's not even a word!"

"Seduce," Finn said, though it only seemed to make her angrier.

"And do you know why?" she asked him. Finn cleared his throat as he peered up at her after setting aside a stack of papers.

"Because of your new found position?" he asked, though he knew it was the answer. He had honestly not considered that Attia would receive unwanted attention because of the position he'd put her in.

"Apparently there are a ton of men who fancy themselves Almost-King, Finn."

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" he replied as he stood up and turned to the side. He motioned to somebody, but Attia didn't care enough to look at who.

"Make me not Crown Heir," she said simply.

"I can't do that, Attia," Finn replied as he turned back to her. "Council wanted to have somebody to take over, and you were their favorite."

"How is that even possible?" she nearly yelled. Finn had started to leave the room, his messengers following behind, but Attia took hold of his arm before he could walk past her. "How can they like me best? They hate me."

"Attia, you're only Regent if me and Claudia disappear or something. You wouldn't even be Queen for another year after that."

"Queen?" she repeated. "No, Finn! I'm not going to be Queen. I don't care what you and Council cooked up without me. If you make me be Queen, I swear I will burn everything down."

"Stop being so dramatic," Finn told her as he handed the stack of papers he was carrying to one of the men standing near him. "It means nothing unless Claudia and I don't have kids."

"Then where are you going? She's probably in your room."

"Attia, would you stop?" Finn laughed as he turned away from her. "And you're to be accompanied by a Knight at all times, now," he added as he reached the door.

"Why?"

"You're important now."

"I hate you," she told him before he left the room. When she turned back towards his desk, she noticed Keiro and Morgan near the fall wall, both staring at her, though the look on Morgan's face irritated her more than the look Keiro had.

"Are you alright?" A voice asked from behind her. When she turned, she found Mason looking down at her.

"Yeah," she said with a sigh.

"You really had no idea he was going to do that?"

"No," she answered as she shook her head. "I wouldn't have shown up if I had known." Judging from the look on his face, she surmised he wasn't as accustomed to the inner workings of Court as she had expected. "I have some things to do, so if you'll excuse me," she told him as she started to move around him to get to the door. When she heard his footsteps trailing her out of the door and down the hallway, she turned to look up at him. "You're following me," she commented.

"The King assigned me to protect you," he answered. 

"I don't suppose I could bribe you into going away?" she replied. Mason actually smiled and laughed before he shook his head.

"If the Commander or the King found out, I'd be out of a job," he explained. "I'm more afraid of them than you."

"Fine," Attia agreed, letting a laugh pass her lips. Mason's warm smile was comforting at Court where everyone else seemed to have some other plan. She'd led the way down the hallway for a few more steps until she heard her name called out from behind. Groaning, as she did recognize the voice, Attia turned back to find Lady Morgan dragging Keiro out of the King's office and down the hallway.

"Lady Attia," she called again once she and Keiro had reached her. Keiro had released her hand as soon as he was able.

"What?" Attia replied, not bothering with the formalities of Court.

"I wondered if you were to join the Queen and her ladies for lunch this afternoon," Morgan answered.

"I'm not one of her ladies-in-waiting, Morgan," Attia responded as she started to turn back, stopping when Morgan replied anyway.

"I know, but Mistress Anne will be there and-"

"What did you say?" Attia stopped Morgan mid-sentence and turned to face her. Keiro had recognized the dark look that had flashed across Attia's eyes, but made no attempt to rescue Morgan.

"What?" Morgan replied.

"Mistress Anne?" Attia repeated strongly.

"Well, she is technically not a Lady like you or I," Morgan answered.

"Lady Morgan," Attia started after she'd narrowed her eyes at the woman. "Regardless of your title or of Anne's, you are to treat her as though she holds a higher title than your own. That is because she is of a lot more importance than you."

"Attia," Keiro said through his teeth, but Attia waved him away with one hand, not missing a beat in her speech.

"The reason for that is Prince Casper has taken a shine to her, as have I, the Queen, the King, and even Keiro."

"By taken a shine, I assume you mean she's just his mistress."

"As are you to Keiro," Attia answered sharply. Morgan had shut her eyes as she turned away from Attia for a moment before turning back. "And for it's worth, Lady Morgan, you'd better hope Anne and Casper break up because Casper's mistress will be the highest possible rank you will ever get here at Court."

"That's enough," Keiro said as he pulled on Morgan's arm and stood in front of Attia.

"Is there one thing you disagree with me on?" Attia challenged, obviously still holding her own even against Keiro. When Keiro said nothing, Atta rose her eyebrow before she continued. "Perhaps you should let Casper know what Lady Morgan really thinks of Anne. See how long she can last here without friends in high places." Attia's words sounded more like a threat than a comment as she turned away from Keiro. She had no idea what kinds of looks Mason and Keiro exchanged for the short moment before Mason turned to follow Attia and Keiro had turned back to Morgan.

"I take it you and Lady Morgan aren't close," Mason commented when the silence between them had started to grate on his nerves.

"She thinks she entitled," Attia replied simply. "Like she's earned everything that's given to her here. Like she deserves everything and more."

"Nothing to do with the High Duke, then?"

"She is admittedly one of his more annoying choices," Attia replied, choosing her words carefully. Mason only nodded, but said nothing further on the topic.

That night was the night of the dinner the six had together every week. When Attia had arrived, Keiro was already there, thankfully without Morgan. Casper and Anne were not yet present, but Claudia and Finn were. Attia met Keiro's gaze for only a moment before she shifted her eyes to Claudia while she crossed the room to take her seat. When she sat down, she kept Claudia's gaze as the two engaged in conversation.

"She didn't mean it," Keiro said suddenly, interrupting the women's conversation. Attia turned to him slowly, one eyebrow higher than the other.

"I don't care," she replied simply. An open bottle of wine sat in the center of the table, so Attia reached out to grab the bottle and pour her glass.

"She didn't mean anything by it, Attia."

"I still don't care," she repeated as she returned the bottle to the center of the table, then took a sip of the wine.

"What happened?" Finn asked with a heavy sigh.

"Nothing," Keiro answered.

"Lady Giggles thinks of herself as of more importance than our very own Mistress Anne," Attia further explained on Keiro's response.

"She… she said 'Mistress Anne'?" Finn asked, turning to Keiro. Attia held her gaze on Keiro, careful not to let her lips curl into a victory grin.

"It may have slipped out in conversation," Keiro admitted. When he sighed, Attia took at least some comfort in the fact that at least he knew how out of line Morgan had been to call Anne by what many thought her appropriate title.

"Well, I think you should get rid of her," Finn said, but Keiro rolled his eyes.

"I agree," Claudia added. Keiro turned to Attia, who only stared at him, opting to say nothing.

"What? Now you don't have an opinion?" he said, his words carrying an edge. Claudia and Finn were by no means unaccustomed to Attia and Keiro's arguments; however the two had not fought once since the split neither had ever really explained or talked about. The married couple could clearly see the two were eager for another fight with one another. "For a year you had an opinion on everything from the shirt I wore to what I ate and now you have nothing?"

"Does it matter what I say about her?" Attia replied. "Anything I say will just sound unpleasant."

"Unpleasant?" Keiro repeated as he leaned over the table. "That's what you're concerned about? Not sounding unpleasant? You were plenty unpleasant when you made Morgan cry today."

"She did not cry!"

"She cried after you left."

"She didn't cry. You're making that up."

"Long overdue fight?" Casper commented as he and Anne reached the table. Neither Attia, nor Keiro, had even noticed them when they entered the room.

"No," both snapped immediately. Attia leaned back in her seat as she rolled her wine glass back and forth in her palms. The silence that followed was tense, even for the four who hadn't even been a part of the short spat between the two.

"Did she really cry, Keiro?" Claudia asked. He turned to her slowly while Attia turned to him.

"Yes."

"One tear is not crying," Attia put in, pulling Keiro's attention back to her.

"It's evidence of having been upset."

"You want me to feel bad for upsetting your whore?"

"Don't call her that."

"That's what she is. At least I was nice enough to call her your mistress in front of her."

"That's true," Anne put in.

"You weren't there," Keiro replied when he turned to her.

"But if that's true, she's right," Anne answered and Attia laughed before she took another sip of her wine.

"Let's just eat," Keiro replied simply before he finished his rather large glass of wine and leaned back in his seat, determined not to argue anymore. He wasn't the only one at the table to notice that he and Attia argued less now than when they had been together.


	7. Chapter 7

"I think we should stop in Primstone," Finn commented as he sat with some of Council as well as some Guardsmen. Attia, Claudia, and Casper were seated around the table as well for the informal meeting for the last minute decisions about going on progress.

"Why?" Attia asked when she turned to him.

"Well, so you can see your father," he answered as he met her gaze. Attia only stared at him, not really responding to what he'd said. "And we can stay there too. It just makes sense to go that way," Finn added.

"Fine," Attia finally replied as she turned away from Finn to look down at the map of the Realm where they'd marked out their course.

"You have spoken to him, right?" Finn asked.

"Once or twice," Attia responded.

"Attia, you made me give him a manor and you don't even talk to the man?"

"Oh come on, Finn," Attia replied with a heavy sigh as she turned to him. "Claudia's father has a huge estate and he tried to kill us, so don't act like the house is some huge loss for you."

"Whatever," Finn said as he changed the course on the map to include the Primstone territory. He knew Attia's father was a sensitive topic, and if she'd already agreed to stop there and see him, he wouldn't press anymore. "I'll send a messenger to tell him we're stopping there."

"I'll do it," Attia offered. Finn looked at her for a moment, surprised that she'd volunteered, but nodded without saying anything.

"We can take the high road," Charles put in as he pointed to a path on the map leading towards Primstone. "The lowlands can flood and we can't defend attacks from above."

"You don't really think we'll be attacked, do you?" Attia asked. Charles met her gaze before he shook his head once or twice.

"You never know what could happen, and it's just best to prepare for anything that could happen."

The door had opened before anyone said something further, but when they'd noticed it was Anne, most had returned their attention to the map. "Do we have the final list for everyone going with us?" Finn asked as he peered up at Charles.

"No," Anne answered, even though Charles had been ready to confirm that they did. "Casper and I aren't going."

"We aren't?" Casper repeated as he turned to her, equally confused as Finn and Attia. She only shook her head as she reached him and stood beside his chair. "Why aren't we?"

Instead of answering, Anne handed a piece of paper to Casper, beaming while she did it. Still confused, Casper looked down at the paper and read it, his face contorting as he looked back up at her. "You mean you're not going, then, right?"

"Casper!" Anne replied sharply.

"It's your sister's wedding," Casper answered as he handed back the paper. "You can't really expect me to go with you, Anne. What about your parents?"

"They know about you, Casper, don't be silly."

"So you want me to go to the countryside and go to your sister's wedding where your father will be as well?"

"Yes. It's not a question, Casper. I can't miss my sister's wedding," Anne told him before she turned to Claudia. "I'm so sorry that I have to withdraw so late."

"Don't worry, Anne. I'm sure it'll be lovely," Claudia replied.

"Wait," Casper said as he stood up and put a hand on Anne's hand to pull her attention back to him. "Why do you think this is a good idea? This isn't the same as us inviting them here, which I've done several times and they always decline, Anne, in case you've forgotten."

"They work for a living, Casper. They don't live off the King's allowance every month," Anne replied sharply. Though just a lowly seamstress in name, Anne did in fact have enough power to belittle the Prince in a room full of officials.

"They hate me, Anne."

"They don't hate you. Why would you even think that?"

"What you want a list of reasons?" he replied. He was only vaguely aware they were in a room full of people, but Anne hardly seemed to care so neither did he. "One, I tricked and seduced you into becoming my clueless mistress who I will get rid of as soon as grow bored."

"Casper!" Anne yelled as she struck his arm with the back of her hand. "I came to you when you'd finally given up and I actually liked you."

"You believe that's what your father thinks?" Casper replied. "I guarantee it's my version he knows."

"As entertaining as this is," Finn put in as he cleared his throat. Slowly Casper and Anne turned to face him. "I need final word on whether you two are coming or not."

"We're not," Anne replied sharply. "I have to go to my sister's wedding, Casper, and I want you to be there with me. Is that so much to ask?"

Casper drew in a deep breath as he ran a hand through his hair and met her gaze. "You're so lucky you're cute," he told her through gritted teeth. Anne only laughed before she pushed herself up onto her toes to press a kiss onto his lips. She knew he'd given into her. "We're not going to go, Finn," he said dryly after Anne had stepped away from him.

"Well, what if after the wedding, we just joined them when they go through Lancaster," Anne suggested. She peered at Finn for a moment before she approached the table and looked down at the map. "If you're going to Primstone first, then by the time you get to Lancaster, the wedding should be over."

"Ok," Finn agreed with a shrug before he looked at Casper. "You two can take five men, then, and the carriage."

"Sure," Casper agreed, having nothing else to say on the matter. "Hope you five will survive until Lancaster. I'd hate the miss the blood bath."

"What five? What are you talking about?" Claudia asked as she peered up at Casper.

"Morgan," Casper answered as he looked down at Claudia.

"Morgan's not on the list," Anne said as she moved to Casper's side. Attia and Finn had looked to Casper as well, all four equally interested.

"Well, if she's not going as one of your ladies, she must be going as Keiro's guest," Casper replied, switching his gaze from Claudia to Anne then to Finn and Attia. "He told me she was going."

"I took her off the list so she wouldn't go," Claudia said with a groan as she met Finn's gaze.

"There's nothing I can do," he replied with a shrug. He looked at Attia for only a moment before looking at Claudia again. "Keiro is free to bring whoever he wants."

"Well, you all have fun with that," Casper said as he wrapped his arm around Anne's waist. "We're going to Lancaster."

"Now, you're happy," Attia commented bitterly. Casper only laughed as he met her gaze then turned back to Anne. He said nothing further as he left the room with her on his arm.

Finn had gone back to finalizing the rest of the trip, but Attia had left the room shortly after Casper and Anne. After walking down a series of hallways, she reached the hallway where her office was located, surprised to find Keiro and Morgan waiting outside the door. Taking in a breath, she braced herself for Morgan's incessant girlish laughter as she approached them.

"Need something?" she asked as she produced the lock to her office from around her neck. After unlocking the door she stepped inside, the pair following her in. Morgan had lingered by the door while Keiro had followed Attia to the desk near the back of the room.

"I need authorization to take money out of the vault," Keiro said after Attia had sat down behind her desk. She met his gaze for a moment, but turned away quickly when she caught movement in the corner of her eye.

"Hey," she called out loudly. Morgan had turned to her, startled, unaware Attia had called for one of the King's messengers who'd passed by the open door. He appeared in the doorway in a moment, then traveled further into the room when Attia waved for him to come closer.

"Is there something you need, Lady Attia?" he asked calmly when he stood on the other side of desk near Keiro.

"Send for one of the King's long distance messengers. I need to send word to my father," Attia told him. He nodded to her, and to Keiro, before he left the room. "Yes, you do need authorization to get an advance on your allowance from either me or Finn," she agreed when she turned back to Keiro. When she said and did nothing further he sighed as he leaned over the edge of her desk.

"What do you want?"

"You can at least ask nicely," she replied.

"Fine. Can you please give me authorization to spend my own money?"

"It's not your money. It's Finn's," she clarified as she reached into one of her drawers to pull out a stack of forms. "That's why you need authorization," she added as she began to scribble on different lines of the form. "Three months advance?"

"Yeah, enough for going on Progress," he answered. She nodded as she finished filling it out then turned the paper around and slid it across the desk.

"Sign the bottom. Take it to the vault manager," she instructed as she handed him the pen.

"Why are you sending word to your father?" he asked as he took the pen and messily scribbled what appeared to be every other letter of his name where his signature needed to be.

"We're stopping there first on progress," Attia replied without meeting his gaze. She took her pen back, replaced it to the cup on the corner of her desk and began to poke through the stacks of papers on her desk, well aware Keiro had made no movement to leave the room. After another minute, she sighed and looked up at him. "What?"

"You're going to see him," he commented.

"Yeah, we all will. We're spending the night," Attia answered. Keiro was one of the few who knew what a sensitive topic her father could be, so he knew the straight look she kept across her face was probably more difficult to keep than it appeared to be.

"Have you even talked to him?"

"We're not talking about this with-" Attia stopped herself as she redirected her gaze to her desk top and cleared her throat. In a lower voice, she continued. "With Morgan in the room. I don't understand why you have to go everywhere with her. A little separation would do you wonders, I'm sure," she commented bitterly, confident he wouldn't heed her advice in the slightest.

"Ok," he said simply as he folded the paper and tucked it into his pocket.


	8. Chapter 8

"Is this the only one?" Mason asked after he'd secured Attia' trunk to the back of her carriage. She looked up from the black folder in her hand to meet his gaze.

"Yes, that's all," she answered before she looked back down and continued to read down the list. "Are all of the Queen's ladies accounted for?" she asked curiously. After a moment of quiet, she looked up at Mason again, who was at loss for an answer.

"I can find out," he replied.

"Don't worry," she told him as she turned to face the stone archway over the entrance to Court. Just as she turned, Claudia was emerging from the doorway, a number of her ladies trailing behind her. "Claudia," Attia called before she could retreat to her and Finn's carriage. At the sound of her name, Claudia led her ladies towards Attia. "All of your ladies are here?"

"Yes," Claudia answered with a nod. "Except Morgan."

"Of course," Attia replied as she checked something off on her list. "I'm sure she's coming with Keiro. You gave Anne an advance on her pay, right?"

"Yes," Claudia said when Attia looked up at her again. "Not that she'll need any of it, anyway."

"She might give some to her family," Attia answered with a shrug. Behind Claudia, she noticed Casper and Anne coming out of the doorway, two Knights on either side of them. Behind them a few men carried their trunks. Before Attia had called attention to them, Anne broke away from Casper and the men to wander towards Claudia and Attia.

"We're not to going to see you for a while," Claudia said as she embraced Anne. After the pair pulled apart, Anne hugged Attia.

"Just a week or so, right?" Anne asked.

"Probably more if we bad weather or stumble onto a murder scene or something," Attia replied with a laugh. Anne and Claudia had laughed as well, but the laughter ended when Morgan's giggling violated the airspace.

"Hopefully it'll be Morgan's murder scene," Claudia commented bitterly. Attia had grinned in amusement, but ever kind Anne only looked at Claudia disapprovingly. "We'll see you and Casper in Lancaster, Anne," Claudia said when neither Anne nor Attia responded to her.

"Alright," Anne replied with a smile as she looked between the two.

"Tell your sister congratulations," Attia said as Anne turned away to head back to the carriage by which Casper stood. Nearby the men were attaching their trunks to the back. Claudia nodded to Attia before retreating to her and Finn's carriage while Attia directed the ladies-in-waiting to their carriages, three to each. After she'd settled them all, Finn had approached her, waving away his messenger boy as he reached her.

"Are we ready?" Finn asked, knowing she had everything and everyone monitored.

"All of your men are set?" she asked, and he nodded. "Then we're ready. But we should let Casper and Anne leave first so they got get stuck behind us.

"They'll pulling out now," Finn answered. "Did Morgan check in as Claudia's lady?"

"Her and Keiro went straight to their carriage," Attia said as she leaned over to peer down the long line of carriages. "Looks like their trunks are already packed on Keiro's carriage," she added. Most of the carriage doors were closed, the riders already inside and their luggage already strapped to the back. A few of the Knights still lingered as they spoke with Charles.

"Are you ok with everything?" Finn asked, and Attia met his gaze. After a moment of silence, he took the folder from her arm and shut it before he tucked it under his arm. "I'm serious, Attia."

"What would I not be ok with, exactly?" she replied as she rose an eyebrow at him.

"Well, I don't know," Finn said sarcastically. "Maybe because Keiro is flaunting that ridiculously annoying mistress of his, or that we're stopping at your father's manor when you haven't talked to him once in the last year. And that Anne won't be with us for a while, and Claudia will be busy with everyone wanting to see us, so you'll be essentially alone."

"Thank you, Finn. I feel so much better," Attia replied with equal sarcasm. Neither were even remotely aware that Mason still stood by, close enough to hear every word. "And I did talk to my father. He got the place fixed up apparently."

"Have you forgiven him?"

"No," she answered simply.

"It's been a year, Attia. Maybe you should."

"Maybe I should've gone with Casper and Anne to her sister's wedding," Attia replied. Taking the hint, Finn nodded and relinquished her folder before he continued passed her to get to his carriage. When Attia turned back to the carriage, she realized Mason was ever present, but said nothing to him as she stepped towards the carriage. He opened the door for her and offered his hand to help her climb up, but she stepped in without his assistance. When Mason stepped up into the carriage, he sat across from her and shut the door, but said nothing even as their eyes met for a moment.

For the majority of the ride through the outer villages and towns near Court, Attia and Mason remained in mostly silence. As the moved through populated areas, Attia could hear the cheers and applause of the people as they caught sight of their King and new Queen. Every so often, she pulled back the curtain over the window to peer out, though very few were at all interested in her, despite her recent advancement in position.

The first stop on progress was to see the Baron of Parkfield. Though in support of Finn's claim to the throne, he'd never made the trip to Court since Finn's coronation. As all the carriages pulled into the manor's parkway, Attia peered out the window at the imposing building. The left side was not yet completely renovated while the right side appeared to have been completely livable. It was just more proof that even the wealthy weren't as wealthy as they appeared in Finn's post-Era kingdom.

One of Finn's men had opened her carriage door and provided steps for Attia to step out of the carriage. The same was done for Finn and Claudia's carriage as well as Keiro and Morgan's. The five went to the front of the manor were a number of people were in line, ready to accept the King and his party.

"Your Majesty," the older man standing near the entrance to the house stepped forward and bowed low to Finn and Claudia. "It is an honor for you to stop here while on progress. Please come in, and let us serve you for your short stay," he said as he motioned to the open doors behind him.

"We'd love to, Baron," Finn replied with a smile. Though he was watched by the hundreds that made up progress as well as the Baron's own servers, the smile he wore was more genuine than political. Finn turned to Claudia and offered her his hand, before they turned back to the Baron and began to follow him to the front of the house. Keiro and Moran followed close behind, Attia trailing in last.

"My Queen, do you perhaps remember your stay here, all those years ago?" the Baron asked once they'd passed the threshold into the manor. "You were but a child."

"I do remember," Claudia replied.

"Then you might remember my son," he said as a man entered the front room of the manor, hands behind his back. He wore the bureaucratic smile courtiers were masters off. "This is my son, Lord Evan."

"Your Majesties," he said with a low bow, before he turned to Keiro and Morgan. "My Lord." Evan paid his respect to Keiro with one nod of his head, before his eyes shifted and remained on Attia. "Your Grace," he said as he reached out to kiss the back of her hand. "How honored you must be to be Crown Heir."

"Thank you," Attia said simply as she withdrew her hand and turned to Finn and Claudia, though she could still see Evan's eyes following her. The Baron led them into the next room where he offered the five places to sit. The various Knights spread out across the room, aligning themselves along the walls while the Baron and his son took seats as well. A few servers came through the room with refreshments, but only Morgan seemed exceptionally glad for them. She apparently was not yet accustomed to being served rather than being the server.

After the small talk only the Baron and Claudia were experts at making, Attia had grown bored. She hadn't expected to be eager to see her father, and yet she was. Of course, Morgan's giggling did not help put her at ease. As though he'd sensed her discomfort, Evan had turned to Attia. "Would you like to see the gardens, Your Grace? I can show you the new fountain we had installed. It's quite beautiful," he said as he smiled at her, his eyes not shifting in the slightest.

Attia took a moment to respond, simply because she'd been caught off guard by the comment. Finn and Claudia had turned to her, as had Keiro, but Morgan kept her attention to the Baron. Though the three essentially watched the same exchange, everyone saw something different. Finn and Claudia had a feeling the Baron's son was in search of an upgrade in position and winning the heart of the Crown Heir certainly would do that for him. Keiro may have realized that, but still only saw another man openly showing interest in Attia.

She'd actually been prepared to decline, but Morgan had giggled seemingly at nothing, and Attia could no longer stand sitting near the woman. With a forced smile and a nod, Attia stood and offered her hand to Evan. Before he could take it, Keiro had stood, his hand grabbing her other arm and pulling her back to him. When she'd turned to stare at him, he recognized the cold look in her eye but ignored it anyway.

"Wouldn't you rather stay indoors? Away from the heat?" he suggested. Attia narrowed her eyes at him, unwilling to wonder why he'd made such a ridiculous comment.

"Keiro, it's not even that warm out, yet," Morgan giggled and Attia was visibly annoyed at the sound.

"No," Attia answered simply as she met his gaze after the moment he'd turned away to look at Morgan. "And you have four seconds to let me go," she added. Keiro had cleared his throat and quickly released her, knowing what was best for his own health. As he sat back down, he watched Evan and Attia exit through the back door of the room, Knight Mason trailing behind.

Escaping Morgan's presence in exchange for Evan's presence in privacy was good trade to Attia. She knew to expect some kind of advance as she followed Evan through the pathways of the gardens located behind the Manor. As they turned a corner she peered over her should to spot Mason, who was never far behind her.

As they approached the fountain Attia assumed was the one Evan spoke of, she felt his hand venture from her arm to the small of her back. Willing to set boundaries in a calm manner, she simply stepped away from him as she took a seat on one of the stone benches. Evan sat beside her, still too close for her own comfort. Before he'd started up conversation, Evan he turned to look at Mason with narrowing eyes.

"Perhaps some privacy?" he suggested, keeping his tone even.

"I'm sorry, my Lord," Mason replied, not appearing or even sounding apologetic in the slightest. "I'm not to leave Lady Attia under any circumstance. They are the King's orders. I'm sure you understand."

The faintest of smiles had flashed across Attia's face in the seconds Evan had been looking away. Only Mason had seen it when his eyes had shifted to her for a moment before he looked to Evan again. "Well," Evan said as he cleared his throat and turned back to Attia. "After you've gone on Progress, I may plan a trip to Court. Perhaps we could arrange time together there."

"I don't really know how I feel about that, Evan," Attia responded truthfully without meeting his gaze.

By the time Attia reached the carriages after enduring small talk and Evan's unwanted advances, Finn and Claudia were leading the way out of the manor, the Baron trailing behind them. Morgan and a particularly unhappy Keiro were not far behind. When they reached her, the Baron and his son had retreated to the manor.

"What did he want?" Keiro asked, his attention focused solely on Attia.

"Why do you care?" she replied with narrowed eyes. "Can we go, now?" she asked as she turned away from Keiro before he could respond, not that he had an answer anyway.

"Eager to see your father?" Finn asked.

"Eager to be anywhere but here," Attia corrected. "Since you made me Crown Heir, it's a little difficult to manage all the power-hungry men. Let's go."


	9. Chapter 9

In their carriage, Casper and Anne sat hand in hand. Two Knights sat across from them, and though they were both technically assigned to Casper, one never left Anne either. The roads were mostly smooth with the wheels snagging on a rock or hole every so often. Of course, once they'd passed the largest city in Lancaster, the roads had become much rougher than Casper was accustomed to. By the time they'd gotten to the small town Anne resided from, the carriage was forced to travel at an agonizingly slow pace to avoid any real damage to the carriage as well as injury to the horses.

"Why are you so tense?" Anne asked suddenly, her voice breaking the silence within the carriage. Casper only turned to her, slightly confused at her outburst.

"I didn't say anything," he reminded her, but Anne only stared at him.

"You don't have to. I can tell," she replied simply. Casper only took in a deep breath as he turned away from her to peer out the window. He knew when he'd lost a fight they hadn't even had yet. As he pulled back the curtain slightly to look out the carriage, however, he found a large collection of the town's population lining the single road, watching as the royal carriage strolled through.

"This is…" Casper started but trailed off as he let the curtain fall back over the window and turned back to Anne. She met him with a heavy stare, her eyes narrowed, her lips pressed together tightly.

"What?" she asked strongly, but Casper only shook his head as he faced forward. Just from looking at the pair of Knights, Casper knew they were entertained by the odd dynamic of his and Anne's relationship. "You promised you would try to be nice, Casper," she reminded him as she slipped her hand into his fingers while her other hand touched the back of his.

"I haven't forgotten," he answered. "But it's not like there's a lot I have in common with people here, Anne," he reminded her. But of course, after the twentieth time he'd tried to explain that to her, she still mostly ignored the comment. Within a few minutes, Casper felt the carriage stop, and his stomach dropped as he groaned and ran his free hand through his hair.

"Would you stop?" Anne pleaded when she looked at him. He wanted to argue, but said nothing even as he met her gaze. When neither said anything for a moment, the Knight opened up the carriage door. Anne released Casper's hand as she stepped out of the carriage, one hand accepting the Knight's help, her other holding up the skirts of her dress.

"Do I have to get out?" Casper mumbled as he started dumbly out the door.

"If you don't she might get back in and scold you," the remaining Knight pointed out. Though the comment was somewhat out of line, Casper laughed at the truth to his comment. With a deep breath, Casper climbed out of the carriage as well. He'd expected the stares and leering, but did his best not to pay attention. With the added security of the two Knights as well as the two Guardsmen who'd ridden outside the carriage, he was somewhat at ease for his protection and Anne's.

As Casper turned, he found Anne, already embraced in an older woman's arms, probably her mother's. As she pulled away from the woman, she turned back to smile at Casper, who returned the smile as best he could. Anne wasn't as unobservant to notice how uncomfortable Casper was. Of course, when she peered around at their surroundings, she understood why. "Why don't we go inside?" she suggested as she turned to her mother, her eyes landing on her father for only a moment.

Her mother nodded, smiling warmly at Anne, before turned and began to lead her daughter into the home. Casper had turned to the Knights and Guardsmen, motioning for them to get the trunks. When Casper turned back to the small home, he was startled to find whom he assumed was Anne's father still standing in the pathway as he eyed Casper.

Before the two were forced to interact, however, Casper's attention was pulled when he heard the sounds of the Knights pulling their swords. As he turned, he found one Guardsman had leapt forward to restrain a frail looking woman who's tried to approach him. The Knights stood behind the Guardsman, their swords drawn should they need to use them to protect Casper.

"Sire," the woman pleaded as she looked passed the Guardsman who held her and between the Knights, her gaze landing solely on Casper. "Please. I've no food for my family. No way to feed them."

Before the woman continued on, Casper reached into one of his pockets to retrieve a small pouch that jingled with the unmistakable sound of coins. After pouring some of the gold coins from the pouch, he stepped between the Knights, his hand on their arms to nudge them apart. Without getting too close to make the Guards and Knights uncomfortable, he dropped the gold coins into the woman's outstretched hand. Before he got a crowd wanting more coins, Casper turned back to the house, only to find Anne's father had disappeared. Leading the way, Casper walked up the pathway to the door and walked through the open doorway.

In the front room of the modest home, Casper found Anne with two other women, her mother and sister, but her father was still nowhere to be seen. As the Guardsmen continued carrying their trunks into the home, Anne drew attention to Casper. She crossed the room and held out her hand as she smiled at him. Within minutes of being home, she'd lightened up dramatically, he noticed. He simply took her hand, and let her lead him towards her mother and sister, noticing how their faces had changed when he'd gotten closer to them.

"Your Majesty," her mother said as she lowered her head, but Casper only laughed as he shook his head. He drew up her hand to press his lips to the back in a respectful gesture as he smiled at her.

"You can just call me Casper," he offered as he released her hand and turned to Anne's sister. "Congratulations on your upcoming wedding," he told her as he kissed her hand as well.

"My mother is Elizabeth," Anne offered and Casper nodded to her. "And my sister, Jane."

"The room isn't much, but-" 

"It's fine. Whatever you have is perfect," Casper said before Elizabeth could continue. He hadn't been under the impression that Anne's family could ever provide the same level of comfort Court had, but nevertheless, he would do anything for Anne including sacrificing his own comfort for her sister's wedding.

Anne had turned to look up at Casper, smiling warmer than she had during their entire trip there. That smile, however, was all it took to put Casper at ease, even in the unfamiliar circumstances. Casper had slipped his hand into hers, unaware his every movement was watched by her mother and sister, as well as the two Knights and Guardsmen who stood along the far wall after putting the two trunks in the respective rooms. Of course, they were far more accustomed to seeing such exchanges between the pair.

"Well, for dinner," Elizabeth said cheerily as Casper and Anne's attentions returned to her, "Bradley is coming and your father went into the city yesterday to get some meats."

"He didn't have to do that," Anne said simply as she held her mother's gaze.

"Well, we wanted your first dinner home to be special," Elizabeth answered simply as she turned to walk into the connecting kitchen. Anne followed her, and as a result, Casper followed as well. He didn't pay attention to either or not Jane had followed as well.

"Bradley?" Casper asked, unsure of who the pair were talking about.

"Jane's future husband," Anne answered with a coy smile as she turned to look over her shoulder. When she noticed Jane was no longer in the room, the smile faded and she turned back to Casper. "His father owns the biggest farm just outside of town and does a lot of deliveries and pickups for everyone in town," Anne explained, and Casper just nodded along. "They're old family friends. We basically grew up together."

"I've never heard his name before," Casper commented, but Anne only shrugged and laughed before she turned back to her mother. While the two caught up, Casper had simply slipped away into the next room.

The room Elizabeth had made up for Casper was fairly well kept. Though he hadn't wanted Anne's family to do too much to accommodate him, he appreciated the effort they'd obviously put in. His trunk was put at the foot of the bed while the bed was made with rather nice linens he was sure they'd somehow purchased just for him.

"I know it's not your chambers at Court," Anne commented, surprising him. When he turned, he found her leaned up against the doorframe as she watched him, smiling softly.

"It's fine, Anne," he answered simply as he sat down on the edge of the bed and motioned for her to join him. As she ventured further into the room, she held out a hand to him and he took her hand for only a few moments before he wrapped his arms around her fully. As he began to place kisses on her cheeks and neck, she began to laugh under her breath until she braced her hands on his shoulders and forced him away from her. "What?" he asked softly as he grinned at her, his arms tightening around her.

"Everyone can hear everything in this house, Casper," she warned, but her smile still held a hint of the playfulness of the moment.

"I feel like it's been weeks, Anne," Casper pleaded as he dropped his forehead to her shoulder. She only laughed as she threaded her fingers though his hair. As the lighthearted romantic moment passed, Casper let his eyes drift shut while he focused only on the feel of her fingers scraping his scalp in soft rhythmic patterns. After a few moments, he pulled her to his lap and though she resisted somewhat, he managed to lay back on the bed, Anne tucked between his arm and chest. As his arm wrapped around her, she rested against him entirely. "I love you," he said softly, but in the quiet, she could hear his words perfectly.

As she pushed herself up onto her arms and turned her head to face him, she pressed their lips together in what felt like a long overdue kiss. Casper, taking advantage of anything he could get, eagerly responded, his arm tightening around her while his free hand reached up to gingerly touch her cheek. It was Anne who pulled away and Casper only groaned as he fell back on the bed rather dramatically. "I love you, too," she laughed as she laid back down beside him. Neither were aware of Elizabeth, who though wasn't in the doorframe directly, had still seen enough of the exchange to put to rest any doubts she had about the Prince's affections for her youngest daughter.


	10. Chapter 10

It was dark by the time they reached the manor Finn had given to Attia's father, who had since returned to the name he had on the Inside. Rather than Cadwell, he went by Ronan, and like Attia and Keiro, forwent a surname. He was at the door to greet the party, but none were offended when all his attention was on Attia.

"It's so good to see you, darling," he said gently as he attempted to pull her into his embrace. She'd accepted the hug, opting to put her arms around his neck for a moment before she pulled away. He'd led her further into the manor, Finn, Claudia, and Keiro following behind. As Attia looked around the room, she narrowed her eyes at the woman who'd entered the room through one of the hallways. "Attia, this is my maid, Claire," he said as he motioned to her. At the mention of her name, she smiled and crossed the room, dropping into a curtsy before Finn and Claudia.

"Your maid?" Attia repeated as she shifted her eyes to her father.

"Yes," he nodded.

"She's wearing diamond earrings and a pearl necklace," Attia replied, her eyes shifting back to the woman for a second.

"They're fake," he answered, keeping his gaze on his daughter.

"Really? Is the silk dress fake, too?" Attia questioned as she rose an eyebrow. He was not equipped with an answer and in the quiet that followed, Keiro, Finn, and Claudia hoped their decision to stay had not been a bad one.

"You're sharp as ever, darling," he finally said with a smile as he reached out to touch her shoulder. "But enough about that. Tell me, what's wrong, darling?"

"What?" she replied sharply as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Something's bothering you. I can tell," he answered simply.

"Stop being ridiculous," she told him. Before he answered, she turned her head to peer out the door, just as the men started to carry the trunks into the manor. "Where are the rooms?" she asked when she looked back to him.

"Yours is down this hall. First door on the right. Everyone else can just pick a room down the other hallway," he answered as he gestured to each side of the room where the hallways led.

"Why is my room specific?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

"It has a bathroom," he answered with a smile. "I'm sure you and Keiro will enjoy the added privacy."

"No," Attia said as she started to shake her head. Before she could say anything, Morgan had wandered into the house, giggling as usual.

"The manor is beautiful," she said excited as she turned to Ronan. She'd also latched herself onto Keiro's arm. "How long have you been restoring it?"

"Is that what's wrong, darling?" Ronan said, turning away from Morgan to look at Atta, without even bothering acknowledging her presence.

"No," Attia snapped. "There's nothing bothering me, so let it go."

"Is something wrong, Attia?" Morgan asked. Attia had groaned as she shook her head and began to walk away from the group. She'd headed towards the left hallway which led to her room, but Morgan had followed along when Ronan had. "Is my room down here, too? We can talk about it tonight." 

"No," Attia said strongly. "Your room is on that side of the house," she said as she turned around to face Morgan, motioning with one hand to the other side of the room. "Far away from mine, where I can't hear you in the middle of the night."

"Oh well, Keiro and I aren't that loud."

"Oh god," Attia groaned as she turned away from the woman and walked away as briskly as she could. She'd touched the side of her leg, as though scratching an itch, but only Keiro knew she was feeling for her knife to be sure it was there should she need it. Granted, he hadn't counted on Morgan's entirely inappropriate comments.

For dinner, Attia had wandered into the dining hall, finding the long table set for only six. Ronan and Claire were seated on one side of the table. Finn was at the head of the table with Claudia immediately to his right. When Attia sat beside her father, only one seat was left. When Keiro and Morgan had stepped into the dining hall, Ronan had stood to face them. "I'm sorry, Morgan. It seems the chef had miscounted the number of seats. I hope you don't mind eating with the Knights and whatnot."

"Oh," Morgan said as she looked over the table, then focused her gaze on Ronan once again. "It's no problem," she responded gently with a forced smile before she turned to Keiro. Keiro had eyed Ronan carefully for a moment before he placed a kiss on her cheek. She'd left the room and Keiro had taken the last seat on the other side beside Claudia. With narrowed eyes, he glared across the table at Attia.

"Don't look at me like that," she replied sharply. "I had nothing to do with it." Keiro let out a breath as he looked away from her, opting to remain silent. As the servers brought out the wine and food, Ronan turned to look at Attia.

"So what else had changed that you've not told me about?" he asked curiously.

"I'm Crown Heir, and you have a mistress. That about sums it up."

Ronan cleared his throat before he took a big gulp of his wine. When he returned his gaze to Attia, he nodded slowly. "I was afraid you would not react favorably if I'd told you the truth about Claire. And she actually was my maid in the beginning," he explained carefully.

"Next time try less expensive clothing, then," she suggested without meeting his gaze.

"Then you're not upset?"

"You can do whatever you want with your life," she answered. Ronan nodded before he turned back to the other side of the table. Before anyone else could put in a comment, Attia had spoken again. "How did you afford all this, anyway?" she asked as she peered around the room, then looked at him.

"Well," he shrugged as he smiled.

"I don't want to know," she told him suddenly as she turned away.

"It's not like that, Attia," he replied defensively and she turned to meet his gaze again.

"Really? It wasn't some kind of con?"

"Well," he started and Attia sighed as she rolled her eyes. "Look, these guys came into the nearby town and stolen a bunch of jewelry and gold and I had managed to get most of it back," he explained and Attia had narrowed her eyes at him.

"Most of it?" she repeated.

"Yes. Unfortunately, they must have… spent the rest."

"Yeah, I'm sure they were the ones who spent the rest," Attia responded sarcastically. "You cannot run cons on the Outside. That is it," she declared as she turned to her food. "And how do you even run a con by yourself anymore?"

"Well, I wasn't by myself. Claire makes for quite the distraction. She's a very beautiful woman."

"So she cleans and steals?" Attia replied before she sipped her wine. "How ever did you lure her here?"

Ronan had only laughed at her comment, and Attia had even smiled. Finn, Claudia, and Keiro, who served as only witnesses to the exchange, were glad Attia could have such a casual, if not odd, conversation with her father considering the background they had.

"She cooks, too," Ronan put in and Attia laughed as she shook her head.

"Glad you're enjoying yourself, then."

"What is Crown Heir?" he asked, but Attia had groaned as she shook her head.

"Nothing," she said simply.

"She inherits the Realm if Finn and Claudia fall off the planet," Keiro explained. The shock on Ronan's face was not out of place. He looked to Finn and Claudia first, both of whom nodded to confirm what Keiro had crudely put. When he turned to Attia, however, she hardly appeared to have even heard what they'd said. Instead, she was sipping her wine and eating off her plate.

"You could be Queen?" he asked.

"No," Attia said as she turned to him. "They'd have to be missing for a year for that. And they're married. We're hoping for a child like, tomorrow, preferably," she said, looking to the couple to emphasis her comments. "And even if I did, by some odd stroke of fate, become Queen, I would abdicate in a heartbeat."

"You don't want to Queen?" he replied.

"No," she repeated. "Court life is over rated. In fact, it kind of sucks, really."

"Are you not happy there?"

Attia took a deep breath as she shook her head, but made no verbal response. She continued eating her dinner, hoping her father would do the same. She also hoped somebody else would begin talking so Ronan would stop.

"You could always come here, Attia," he offered. "You know that."

"That wouldn't be much better," she admitted. She'd finished her plate and leaned back in her chair, her eyes sweeping over the table, but resting on Keiro for a moment longer than usual.

"Will you not admit that Lady Morgan bothers you?" he asked, hardly caring that Keiro was in the room and listening to the entire conversation.

"Ok, I hate the girl, but she doesn't bother me that much," Attia said with a laughed as she shook her head. "She'd mildly annoying."

"That's kind," Keiro commented, and Attia turned to him, eyes narrowed.

"I agree," Attia responded, her voice carrying an edge. Finn, Claudia, and Keiro knew what her tone of voice meant, while her father and Claire were simply guessing.

"Just because you're jealous, or-"

"Jealous?" Attia repeated, not allowing Keiro to finish speaking. It was clear he hadn't chosen the correct response, the other four at the table were unwilling to intervene. "Of Morgan? Have you lost your mind? The woman is-"

"Nice? Sweet? Maybe the word you're looking for, is unarmed!" Keiro suggested. Attia had stood up from the table, with every intent to simply leave the room, but Keiro had stood as well.

"Since when do women like Morgan suddenly hold your interest for longer than three hours?" Attia demanded as she turned back to him. She had taken only a few steps away from the table, while Keiro still stood where his seat had been.

"Women like Morgan?" Keiro repeated as he moved around the head of the table and walked to the other side where Attia was. As he drew closer, she remained where she stood, even as only a few feet separated them. "Well, they're nice, Attia. They let me be right every once in a while."

"Oh, so you mean they're stupid?" Attia replied as she titled her head and rose an eyebrow. She saw the flash across Keiro's face, but still had no intention of backing down from in. In the last few months they'd been separated, she'd prided herself on the ability to keep the peace. Now, however, she couldn't care less if they got caught in another screaming match. Nor did she care that Finn, Claudia, and her father in the room. Moreover, she couldn't care less that half of Court could probably hear them as well, Morgan included.

"They're just not as stubborn as you. And lack all the rough edges that you still have."

"Oh," Attia exclaimed like she actually cared about what he was saying. "So now you like woman who know how to walk in heels and hold their tea cups correctly?"

"That's not what I said," Keiro replied, suddenly defensive. Attia had rolled her eyes as she started to turn away from him. She'd only taken a step away before she felt Keiro's fingers clamp around her arm forcefully. He'd tugged to pull her back, and though she'd restrained as much as she could, Keiro simply over powered her.

"That sounds like what you said," Attia snapped at him as she turned back to face him under his will. "And in that case, have fun with Morgan. She's perfectly polite, and knows her place at Court were every man thinks they run the world."

Keiro had groaned at what Attia had said. He didn't respond, so she simply continued. "And what is it about her and all those other whores you like?" she demanded, her voice raising again. "That they wear those stupid corsets everyday? Is it just physical? Have they been told that Protocol was removed? Or is their sole interest find a powerful husband?"

"No, it not the dress," Keiro said simply just to stop Attia's ranting. Of course, she had more, and he was not at all surprised.

"Oh so it's what? They're willingness to roll into bed with you after two minutes?"

"No!"

"Then what!" she'd yelled at him as she pulled her arm from his hand violently. Both knew they'd be bruises on her arm, but they held each other's gazes without flinching. If they were at all aware they had an audience, they didn't care at all.

"She makes me feel needed!" Keiro shouted back at her, but as soon as the words had slipped through him, he seemed to regret it. No matter how hard he could've tried, he knew he couldn't take them back, especially as Attia took slow measured steps away from him. Her face softened, but her eyes narrowed for a moment as she continued to hold his gaze, still unsure of how to respond to him.

"Needed?" she repeated but in a tone that was dramatically softer than the one she'd used previously. It was painfully clear to their four onlookers that the two were finally engaged in a real argument about their relationship and where they stood. "She needs you?"

"No, I feel needed," he corrected, and Attia rolled her eyes but humored him for the distinction he'd drawn. When she didn't respond right away, he simply continued. "Like when we got attacked on the way here-"

"You didn't get attacked on the way here!" Attia yelled suddenly losing her patience for him and his explanation.

"The wheel hit a rock and she thought we were getting attacked," Keiro clarified and Attia groaned as she turned away from him.

"That's not needy, that's stupid, Keiro," Attia yelled at him as she made her way towards the exit. She'd already opened the door when he replied.

"No, it's nice when beautiful woman needs your help with something," Keiro corrected. Attia had paused in the door way, deciding on whether or not to answer. When she did, she slammed the door shut and turned back to him. "It's nice to feel like you're actually useful for something every once in a while," he told her.

"Like you're needed?" Attia replied, and though he detected the sarcasm in her voice, his nodded anyway. "Morgan is so helpless she makes everyone feel needed, I hope you realize. Even during her imaginary attacks-"

"This isn't about Morgan!" Keiro yelled as he crossed the room to stand right in front of Attia. "It's not about her, whether you're willing to accept that or not. She makes me feel needed, and that's not a feeling a man gets around you!"

"What, I'm not helpless? You knew that going in, Keiro!" Attia yelled at him. Though he'd been the one to get close to her, he walked away to stand on the other side of the room. "And as I recall, you were the one who pursued me, so if feeling needed was something you were looking for-"

"Stop trying to blame everything on me!" Keiro stopped her as he turned back to face her again. "Yeah, I was a little drunk and got shot down by every woman that night, does that make you feel better, Attia? That even drunk you were my last choice? Is that what you want to hear!"

Attia didn't answer him, but even from the other side of the room, he knew he'd hurt her. She simply turned her back to him and left the room without saying anything further. She'd taken only two steps out of the dining hall, before she noticed that many of the serving boys, messengers, and others from Court were all privy to the argument she and Keiro had. Three steps later, she noticed Morgan lingering near the staircase, her face twisted up in a way Attia wasn't accustomed to seeing. She blocked out Morgan's expression, and four steps more, the loud echoing footsteps behind her registered in her mind a split second before she felt Keiro pulled her back around to face him. He'd run out of the dining hall after her so fast, he might've noticed the several serving boys, but had definitely missed Morgan when he leaned into Attia's ear.

"I didn't mean that," he said simply, but lingered in the space beside her for much longer than necessary. Attia could hear his breathing, the breaths coming in faster than they should, and coming out harder. When she put her hands on his chest and pushed him away, she blocked all of that out to focus simply on the words and the argument.

"I don't care," she replied so coldly that he almost believed her. "If she makes you feel so damn needed, then why are you wasting your breath on me? We both know damn well that I don't need you, Keiro. I don't need you for anything, and I would be fine without you and without Finn."

Keiro swallowed as he kept his eyes on her, willing her to do anything to show him she didn't really believe what she'd said. A shift in her eyes, an uneasy swallow. Anything. But before he could really watch her responses, she turned away from him, and he had no intentions of following her any further.

"Yeah, I'm aware, Attia, but thank you anyway," he called after her, his words dripping in sarcasm. Since she was moving, he didn't notice the way his words made every one of her muscles tighten, nor did he hear the stifled half-gasp, half-sob that had somehow escaped her throat.


	11. Chapter 11

"Good morning," Anne chimed as she walked to the side of Casper's bed, a tray of food in her hands. He groaned as he rolled over onto his back, his arm lifted up to shield the light from his eyes.

"Why are you waking me up already?" he groaned as he tucked his hands behind his head and looked over at Anne. She'd put the food on the bed stand before she looked down at him. "It's like, what? Nine?"

"This is a farm, Casper," Anne laughed at him as she rolled her eyes. "Everyone's been up since four, except you."

He only groaned again as he forced himself to sit up. Anne had taken a seat beside him on the edge of the bed. "What is there to do at four in the morning?"

"Feed the cattle, heard the sheep, water the garden, milk the cattle, feed the dogs-"

"Ok, I get it," Casper stopped her and she laughed at him again before she pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"My mom insisted that nobody bother you," she added when Casper turned to look at her. "She made you lunch, too."

"It's like an early morning snack," Casper corrected.

"Only to you," Anne reminded him as he picked up the glass of water to take a drink. "How did you sleep?"

"Fine, I guess. It's a smaller bed than I'm used to."

"Did you fall off?" Anne giggled, but Casper had taken a bite of the bread before he could respond.

"No," he protested as he stared at her. "Of course not."

"You fell, didn't you?"

"The wood floor is harder than carpet," Casper answered, and Anne laughed at him again. Of course, he hardly cared as he pulled her onto his lap and pressed their lips together. She held the kiss for only a few moments before she pulled away and climbed off of him.

"After you're done eating, you can help my father and Bradley if you want," she told him as she smiled down at him.

"What are you doing?"

"A lot of the people in town have asked me to mend their clothing and bags, so I'm going into the city to get some supplies with my mother and Jane," she explained.

"Everyone misses their resident seamstress?" he asked as he continued to take bites from the plate.

"Something like that," she replied. "If you're going to help on the farm, I put work clothes in your trunk. I didn't think you'd want to get your Court clothes all muddy."

"Don't know how I feel about quality time with your father, Anne," Casper said as she started to walk towards the door.

"Well, he won't kill you, if that's any comfort," she told him with a coy smile as she looked at him over her shoulder. Casper only had time to send her a look before she left the door and pulled the door shut. As she continued down the short hallway before coming into the kitchen, she knew both her parents had heard the entire exchange even if they'd pretended otherwise.

"I think he's charming," Elizabeth commented as Anne came to her side to help with the remainder of preparing the food.

"He's a Prince. Aren't they supposed to be?" her father commented as his eyes landed on his wife. When Anne met his gaze, he smiled weakly. It was just accepted that her parents had a softer spot for their youngest than they did their first born.

"I heard he's a little too charming," Jane commented from the next room. Beside her, Bradley sat, their fingers interlaced. Anne had opted not to say anything as she continued to chop the vegetables. She no longer did such labor at Court but found she actually enjoyed it now that she'd returned home. Before anybody else continued the conversation, the sound of Casper's door opening and closing traveled down the short hallway and into the room. When he emerged, Anne had turned back to him, but a laugh had escaped her before she could stop. Turning back to the vegetables quickly, she hid her smile.

"Hey!"

"I didn't say anything, Casper," Anne replied without looking back at him.

"You don't have to," he replied bitterly. She laughed again as she turned back to him, smiling brightly.

"It's just a very different look for you," she explained as she looked at the plain clothes he wore instead of his more adorned clothing fit for royalty. He also carried the tray and empty plate of food Anne had brought him. "On the up side, nobody will recognize you."

"You're kind of mean," he accused, but was smiling when he said it. "And there's a hole in my riding pants," he added.

"The brown ones?" she asked as she turned back to countertop to continue chopping.

"Yes," he answered, he answered as he set the tray and plate on the counter and passed Anne and her mother. It amazed her on-looking family how the two interacted. Never had they imagined Anne could poke fun at the Prince in the way she had, since they only knew tales of royalty and how none could ever point out their flaws or shortcomings without consequences. Not only was Anne able to make fun of him, but the tone of their conversation had shifted from playful banter to normal conversation in a matter of seconds. It was a marker of a relationship nobody had expected Anne to have with the Prince.

"I'll fix them tonight for you," she offered as she finished chopping the vegetables. After she dropped them off of the cutting board into the bowl, she peered up at Casper.

"Did you need coins for anything?" he asked as he met her gaze.

"No, we're fine. I'm just getting some needles and thread," Anne answered simply. Casper eyed her for a moment before his face changed. Anne wasn't sure if anybody but her could see it though.

"Well, take one of the Knights," Casper said, ignoring her when she groaned in protest. "And he's got coins if you want them," he added as he patted the pockets until he found the small pouch filled with various silver and gold coins. He tossed the pouch to one of the guards without paying attention to who it went to.

"I don't want to be followed by a Knight, Casper," Anne protested and Casper turned back to her. For a few moments, he wasn't sure how to respond. After that time, he simply shrugged.

"Oh, well, I guess," he told her.

"Casper-"

"What do you want me to do?" he asked, stopping her before she could start reprimanding him. "Finn gave us two Knights so that you could have one and I can have one. If you want to argue it, send a letter to the King. We also have a messenger."

"I don't need a guard, Casper."

"That's not the point."

"That's my point."

"Well, what do you say to me whenever we have this argument?" Casper questioned as he faced her with a smug smile. Anne knew she'd already lost the argument, so she just groaned as she looked away from him and focused on the bowl of vegetables sitting on the counter. When she didn't answer him, he crossed the room to stand on the other side of the counter directly in front of her. With a sigh she looked up at him again. "Well?"

"That I don't care," she answered reluctantly, well aware her mother was watching them with a wide grin, her father only slightly interested. Of course, Jane was in the room as well, but Anne couldn't see her behind Casper.

"Glad you can admit that," Casper replied, but Anne tossed a carrot into his face. Laughing, he picked it off the counter and ate it as the front door opened. Elizabeth greeted Bradley warmly, but neither Anne nor Casper even paid him attention, both too wrapped up in each other. After a few minutes, Bradley and Anne's father had moved towards the back exit of the house, but lingered as they waited for Casper. "If you want anything, just get it, love," Casper told her before he pressed a quick kiss to her cheek and crossed the room towards her father. "There's more gold in my trunk if you want it."

"You aren't worried about him with dad?" Jane questioned as she joined Anne and Elizabeth in the kitchen.

"No, of course not," Anne answered as she peered up at Jane for a moment. "Are you ready to go into the city?" she asked curiously as she moved the bowl to the side. She looked up at her sister, before she turned to her mother.

"Yes," Jane answered as their mother nodded.

"We'll have to take the guard with us or I'll never hear the end of it," Anne told them.

"Shall I prepare the horses?" the Knight standing at the door asked, pulling Anne's attention to her.

"Yes, please," Anne answered with a nod. "We'll take the cart that's on the side of the house," she told him.

"Not the carriage?" Anne only laughed as she shook her head and turned to walk down the short hallway to Casper's room. When she emerged again, the Knight had left the house, and her mother and sister were near the door ready to leave.

"Did you get something?" Elizabeth asked curiously as she tied her coat around her waist and opened the door.

"Just a little extra gold," Anne answered simply as she followed the two out of the house. Two horses were already secured to the small wooden cart Anne and her family always rode in to go long distances. The Knight was at the side of the cart and helped Jane and Elizabeth into the cart.

"Lady Anne," he said with a bow as he helped her into the cart as well. Anne only smiled politely before he joined the driver at the front side of the cart facing the horses.

"Lady?" Jane questioned as she eyed her younger sister. Even Elizabeth was surprised at the title the Knight had used to address her daughter.

Anne cleared her throat as she considered how to respond. "Well, it's just… It's not my real title. Just a way people address me because I'm…" Anne trailed off, unsure of how exactly to explain it.

"The Prince's mistress?" Jane offered, her voice harsher than Anne was accustomed to. Unwilling to argue or even object, Anne only looked away, leaving Elizabeth unsure of her place in the new dynamic of her daughters' relationship.

At the farm, Casper followed Anne's father and Bradley along as best he could, though he knew they were just humoring him for the most part. Of course, Casper was quite adept at ignoring what others really thought of him. Had he cared what everybody thought of him, he'd probably would have gone insane by now.

"He's not really that bad," Bradley said after Anne's father had gone, leaving the two young men alone. Bradley held a water bottle as he leaned over the fence that enclosed the sheep. Casper rested his forearms against the fence as he leaned forward over the top of the fence. "He's just really protective over Anne. She's always been the baby around here."

"What do you mean?" Casper asked curiously as he turned to look at Bradley.

"Just this town was really small for a long time and everyone knew everyone. For years Anne was the youngest in town and everybody loved her. When she left for Court, everything changed."

Casper was quiet for a moment as he considered how to respond. He'd only been in Anne's hometown for roughly twelve hours, and he was realizing how little Anne really spoke of home. "So, you and her were close?" he asked curiously, letting his gaze wander across the fields of the farm.

Bradley was quiet for so long that Casper had turned to him, obviously oblivious to something Bradley was privy to. He cleared his throat as he nodded and turned away from Casper before he responded. "Yeah, Anne and I were betrothed when she left for Court," he finally said, the words sounding difficult to force out of him. Casper, who had previously only been uncomfortable around Anne's father, was now uncomfortable around Bradley as well. He certainly had no idea Anne had been previously betrothed.

Luckily, before Casper had to say anything, Anne's father returned and broke the silence. "So, do you know if the ladies have finished all the final touches for Saturday?" he asked, the question directed at Bradley. The young man smiled and laughed as though nothing had happened between him and Casper as he faced his future-father-in-law.

"That's what Jane tells me," he answered. "But they did go into the city. She might've seen something else that she absolutely needs," he laughed.

"Or Elizabeth did," Anne's father added with his own laugh. Casper was well aware that if he and Anne stayed together for even a long period of time, he would never be accepted in her family the way Bradley was. Bradley, who has been set to marry both of their daughters, was treated like a son, like part of the family effortlessly and naturally.


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning, Keiro was silent as he sat with Finn and Claudia, the three eating breakfast in the dining hall. Morgan was nowhere to be seen, and neither Finn nor Claudia asked about her. Three more seats were set, but even if Ronan and Claire did attend breakfast, the three were more than certain Attia wasn't going to. As predicted, Attia's father led Claire into the dining hall, and the two sat.

"Have you seen Attia?" Finn asked as he looked up at Ronan.

"In her room, I guess. Her guard is still there," Ronan answered as he pushed the food around his plate. "I don't know if she's packed to leave, just yet."

"Well, we're not in a rush," Finn answered. Though it was a bit of a lie, he knew Attia probably needed the extra time. Progress couldn't make Finn push Attia and Keiro together. The five finished their meals and moved into the front room, where all of the trunks were lined up and slowly being moved out of the manor to be packed onto the carriages. Morgan had descended the stairs and flashed a weak smile to Keiro before she turned back to the men behind her. With a wave of her arm, she motioned to where they could place her trunk they carried.

Just as she came to the bottom of the stairs, she approached Keiro. At the same time, Attia and Mason emerged from the hallway where her bedroom was located. Her trunk, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"How is your hair wet?" Morgan asked right away and Attia turned to her, the disdain clear across her face.

"I have my own shower in my room," Attia answered shortly as she narrowed her eyes in a slight glare directed at Morgan.

"That's not fair. I've not been able to bathe since we left Court."

"This is my father's home. Why would he give you a shower?" Attia snapped at her before she turned away to look to Finn and Claudia. At the same time, Keiro had pulled on Morgan's arm, obviously annoyed she'd spoken to Attia at all.

"Where are your things?" Finn asked.

"I've decided to stay another day to spend more time with my father," she announced simply, her tone even.

Finn only nodded as he watched her. Even if she was unwilling to show her emotions, he knew they were there all the same. "Ok," he said. "Did you give all the papers to one of my men?"

"Your assistant," Attia answered with a nod. "I'll catch up with you guys tomorrow," she added as she turned her head to see Claudia. She didn't look to Keiro once.

"We'll leave your carriage, a messenger, and the driver," Claudia answered. "And Mason, of course."

"You're not to leave her under any circumstances," Finn said as he looked passed Attia to meet Mason's gaze. "Those are orders."

"Understood, Sire," Mason answered with a nod as Attia rolled her eyes.

"We're in the mountains, Finn. Once you leave, they'll be three people here," Attia said, but Finn only laughed. With an entire army and a kingdom at his disposal, there was no chance he would leave Attia unguarded even for a minute. Of course, the same went for Claudia, Casper, and Anne. He would worry about Keiro, but he knew better than that.

"Just send word when you plan to leave," Finn told her. "And if you want to stay here longer, it's fine. We don't need you on progress."

"I'm fine, Finn," Attia said strongly when she detected the undertone and hidden message of his words. "Just go away."

"Alright," Finn said with a sigh as he turned back to Keiro and Morgan. They slipped out of the house first while Ronan stepped up to the King and Queen. "Thank you for having us. You've done a lot with this place."

"Of course," Ronan answered simply as he made a shallow bow to him and to Claudia. "If you ever need anything, just send word," he said with a warm smile as he followed them to the door. By then all the trunks had been carried out and only Finn and Claudia remained inside. "Travel safely," he added before Finn and Claudia turned away. He shut the door and turned back to find Attia and Claire in the front room, Mason standing to the back against the wall. "Are you ok?" he asked as he looked to his daughter.

"Yes, I'm fine," Attia snapped as she groaned. "Why does everyone assume that I'm not ok?"

"So you're not upset?" Ronan questioned. Attia narrowed her eyes at her father, obviously annoyed at his persistence. Whether he noticed that, or cared if he did, she couldn't tell.

"Why would I be upset?" she eventually responded. It was easier to deflect than to answer questions, be it with lies or truth.

"Because Keiro believes you don't need him," Ronan answered. He saw the flash across her face, even if she didn't let it show for longer than a few seconds. Attia had decided not to respond at all, and after a long moment of silence, Ronan spoke again. "How long do you have read people before you're killed on the Inside, Attia?" he asked, a seemingly random, if not morbid, question. Mason, who still stood against the back wall, was as taken back by the question as Claire was.

Attia knew what her father was saying, but she still remained quiet. She focused on her breathing, feeling the air come in and leave her, until she focused her gaze on her father. "What difference does it make if I'm upset or not? Morgan is still around regardless. Finn still needs me to file papers and sign documents and baby sit every grown man at Court. If I can manage that without having some kind of emotional breakdown, then why the hell not?"

She had a valid point. Ronan knew that. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, he probably knew her best of all. He knew she was capable of blocking out any pain and pushing forward. At least she could do that on the Inside, when survival was such a pressing issue there was no time to linger on past hurts. The same didn't apply for the outside, however.

"I am fine by myself," Attia finally said when her father didn't say anything.

"I know that," Ronan said with a short nod. "You would be fine alone."

"Then why do you keep pressing me about this? You've only met Keiro… what? Like three times? You barely know anything about him and yet you won't let anything go!"

"It's not worth being alone anymore, Attia," Ronan answered.

"Oh, spare me your bullshit life changing speech," Attia snapped at him as she turned to leave the room. As she strode across the room and down the hallway, Ronan followed only a few steps behind. Claire, however, had remained behind. Mason didn't have that option but followed at a further pace.

Attia could hear her father following her as she continued down the hallway even passed her room. When she reached the end of the hallway, she turned the corner to go into another room. That room had a door that led to the grounds behind the manor, but before she could exit the building, Ronan had spoken.

"You may not like to hear it, Attia, but it's still true. Claire makes everything better, even though I was fine here by myself. And I may not have known Keiro very well, but I remember how you looked at him."

"That is such bullshit," Attia accused as she stared at him with cold narrow eyes.

"Is it?" Ronan challenged, but he was careful not to let his voice rise and fall the way Attia's did.

"What do you want?" Attia demanded finally. "You want me to admit that I liked him? Is that what you want? Would that make a difference? Would that make him any less of an asshole?"

"I know you don't really think that, Attia."

"Like hell, I do," she replied. "He's slept with every moving, breathing, female thing he could find at Court. And at least before I could pride myself on not being one of those idiotic, clueless, whorish girls that he fools, but not anymore."

"You don't honestly compare yourself to Morgan," Ronan answered.

Attia had no patience left for the argument, so she simply turned to leave the manor. She didn't bother shutting the door behind her since Mason followed her anyway. By the time Attia returned to the manor, all evidence of the disagreement seemed to simply fade away. She sat across from her father and Claire, and Mason had even joined them at the table for lunch. All seemed fine as the four carried an easy conversation. Perhaps only ten minutes into the meal, a loud crash interrupted it.

"Attia!" Keiro's voice followed the noise. He yelled, seemingly as loud as he could, and a few seconds later a second crash echoed. Attia, and everyone else at the table, recognized it as the sound of the door. "Attia! Mason!" Keiro screamed again.

Attia groaned as he stood from her chair and went to the door of the dining hall, Mason following only two paces behind her. As she stepped into the front room, however, the annoyance faded away immediately. Only three or four steps into the house, Morgan braced herself against the wall, her hand gripping her side. Her dress was muddy and torn, and the fabric around the rip on her side was bloody. Keiro had similar appearances, but after a cursory glance, Attia knew he'd been more badly injured, and probably had supported Morgan's weight as well.

"What happened?" Attia asked as she rushed towards them. Keiro had leaned back against the shut door and let his legs give out as he slid to the floor. When Attia neared him, he removed his hand from his side to reveal the long and deep gash in his flesh.

"We got attacked," Keiro answered, breathlessly. He groaned loudly when Attia tried to move his clothes that surrounded the wound. She had accidently touched his wounded flesh.

"Where are the King and Queen?" Mason asked quickly. He'd gone to Morgan's aid but turned to Keiro as he waited for an answer. Keiro didn't answer right away, so Attia peered up to meet his gaze as well.

"Where are Finn and Claudia, Keiro?" Attia repeated, her tone more forceful that Mason's.

"I don't know," Keiro answered as he shook his head. He met Attia's gaze, and she knew best of all he spoke the truth. He probably feared it more than anyone else as well. "I looked for them. Their carriage was destroyed. The Knight inside with them was dead."

"Charles?" Attia asked.

"I didn't see him," Keiro answered, then groaned loudly as Attia ripped the cloth shirt he wore to look at the wound better.

"Do you have bandages or anything like that?" Attia asked as she looked back at her father and Claire, who stood in the center of the room. Neither had approached the injured couple out of uncertainty of what to do. Claire only nodded quickly before she turned to leave the room briskly. "Come on," Attia said as she took Keiro's hand and braced his body weight against her own. With only some of his help, she moved him to the center of the room and let his lay back down on the floor after she'd pulled his shirt over his head. The way she touched him was inherently personal, but neither even noticed it while Morgan, at least, certainly had.

When Claire returned, she dropped all the supplies she could find onto the floor around Attia. After tossing his shirt to the side, Attia began to clean the wound with one hand, her other hand pressed completely against his chest to hold him steady. She could feel his muscles systematically tensing and releasing as she touched the open wound as gently as possible. "I know, hold on," Attia told him softly after he'd groaned loudly and tried to escape her cleaning hand. After a few more swipes, Attia tossed the bloody rag to the side and rinsed the wound once more. She cared little for the blood and water spilling onto the rug beneath them. After drying the wound, she placed the bandage Claire had brought over the wound and secured it with tape.

The pair interlaced their fingers as Attia' pulled Keiro up to a seated position so she could wrap a strip of cloth around his torso in an attempt to keep the bandage in place better. After she'd finished wrapping the cloth, she secured it by tucking the end into the back of the cloth, then when her fingers brushed away in remaining drops of water or blood on his chest. Keiro took in a deep breath before he tried to stand, but had quickly lost his balance.

"I think you lost a lot of blood, Keiro," Attia told him as she helped steady him on the floor. "You looked really pale."

"We have to find Finn," Keiro replied as though he hadn't heard anything she'd said. Of course, he did still have a grip on her hand from when he almost fell over. She knew he wasn't oblivious to his current physical state.

"Attia," Mason called, and Attia had turned away from Keiro only to be reminded that Morgan needed to be bandaged as well. She motioned for Mason to carry her to the center of the room as well as she moved over a few feet from Keiro.

"Can I take off your corset?" Attia asked as she assessed the wound on Morgan's side. Judging from the placement of their injuries, Attia assumed the pair had been seated very close to one another and were wounded at the same time. Morgan only nodded slowly and Attia began to unlace the corset until it fell in front of Morgan, revealing her only in a thin undershirt. Working around the undershirt, so as not to undress Morgan completely, Attia bandaged the wound quickly since it was significantly smaller than Keiro's.

"We need to go to Court," Mason announced after Attia had withdrawn her hands from Morgan's wound.

"No," Attia and Keiro protested at the same time.

"They're in no condition to remain out here," Mason replied. Though he was speaking only to Attia, he'd turned to meet Keiro's gaze as well.

"I'm not going anywhere until we find Finn," Keiro replied sharply. It wasn't surprising to Ronan or Mason that Claudia was of little concern to Keiro, though Mason was slightly unnerved by how easily Keiro could prioritize those closest to him.

"We have two horses," Attia said simply. "You and Morgan can go to Court, and Keiro and I will go to where they were attacked."

"No," Mason said as he shook his head. "I'm not to leave you at all, Lady Attia. Those are the King's orders."

"Well, where is he to enforce those?" Attia snapped back. Mason was at loss for a response, so Attia simply got to her feet and crossed the room towards him. "Take Morgan back to Court. You're not to get separated from her at all. You go straight to Court and tell Council what happened. No stopping."

"No," Mason repeated, obviously annoying Attia. She turned away from him to look down at Keiro. When he held a hand up, she helped him to his feet, then helped him balance until he found his footing again. "You're too weak," Mason said, the comment directed at Keiro.

"Give me an hour," Keiro replied simply.

"No," Mason repeated, obviously unwilling to go against Finn's orders. Of course, he had no real power against Attia and Keiro, especially when they were in agreement, but he probably didn't recognize that just yet.

"There's food in the dining hall," Attia told Keiro. He met her gaze and nodded before he turned to walk towards the dining hall. As she turned away from Mason to look to her father, she and Attia effectively ignored Mason. "Do you have any riding clothes?" she asked.

"Yeah," he answered with a nod. "I'll get some." Attia only nodded as she turned to Claire and Morgan. She met each of their gazes, but said nothing before she followed Keiro into the dining hall. Mason had followed her but remained quiet. Keiro sat in one of the chairs and leaned back as he let his head fall back, his eyes shut. "You should eat to get some of your strength back," Attia told him as she sat across from him. He only nodded meekly before he began nibbling on the bits of food left over on the plate in front of him.

"We were ambushed," Keiro said after he'd taken a few bites. Attia had passed him a glass of water and he took a drink before he met her gaze again. "I mean, they planned that attack. There's no way we could've been attacked like that randomly."

"What happened?" Attia asked.

"I don't know. I didn't see anything. The curtains were down in the carriage. Just one second were going and the next there's screaming and an explosion and the carriage stopped."

"You got out?" Attia asked.

"Yeah," Keiro answered before he took another bite. "I told Morgan to stay inside but she followed me, and I got distracted and some guy tried to stab me but I pushed Morgan over and we both got hit."

"Finn?"

"By the time I got to their carriage, one of the Knights were dead, Charles was gone and so were Finn and Claudia. I looked everywhere. I threatened one of the attackers and he wouldn't say anything. He bled to death."

"What happened to your Knight?" Attia asked.

"Dead, I guess," Keiro answered with a shrug. "He left the carriage when we first got attacked, and I don't remember seeing him again."

"How many dead?"

"I don't know. Fifteen, twenty, maybe."

Attia nodded slowly as Keiro continued taking bites from the various plates. Attia remained quiet as she watched Keiro. A few moments later, he met her gaze. "You know what this means," he told her.

"What?" she asked, even though she feared she already knew the answer.

"You're Regent," Keiro answered. As Attia groaned, he reached across the table and put his hand over hers.

"We've got to find them," Attia said with a breath.

"We should send word to Casper and Anne, too," Keiro added, but Attia didn't respond.


	13. Chapter 13

"Morgan," Attia said as she touched Morgan's arm. Mason and Keiro were already mounted on the two horses they had, while Attia and Morgan stood between them. After some convincing and a little threatening, Attia and Keiro had convinced Mason to take Morgan back to Court. "I need you to pay attention to what I'm saying," Attia told her, speaking as calmly as she could. It was clear Morgan was still in a state of shock after the attack and wasn't coping with it very well.

"Can you hear me?" Attia asked and waited for Morgan to nod slowly. She was still fearful, but Attia didn't have time to soothe her. "I need you to get on the horse with Mason and go back to Court, ok? If you get separated from him, you need to blend into the people there, ok?"

"No," Morgan replied sharply. "That's not ok!"

"Get on the horse, Morgan," Attia said with a deep breath as she nudged Morgan towards Mason. "Give me your jewelry," she added before Morgan began to climb onto the horse.

"Why?" Morgan questioned, her voice shaky.

"Just take it off," Attia repeated as she pulled a small pouch from her pocket. "Your necklace and your earrings, Morgan." After she'd removed the jewelry, Attia dropped them into the pouch then lifted Morgan's skirt. "I'm going to tie this to your leg, Morgan. If you get separated from Mason, you sell your jewelry and get a plain dress. You make up a story about how you need to Court, alright? Tell nobody who you are. Do you understand?"

Morgan nodded slowly, but Attia remained unconvinced she'd actually heard everything Attia said. "Alright," Attia sighed before she looked up at Mason. "Don't lose her," she said simply. Mason only nodded before he reached to his side.

"Here," he said as he removed one of his extra swords and held it down to Attia. "Just to have something," he told her. Attia nodded and took the weapon before Mason and Morgan rode away. As she turned back to Keiro, she handed him the sword and let him attach it to his belt.

"Is that what's like to be needed?" Attia questioned, but her smile gave away her lighthearted demure.

"Get on the horse," Keiro snapped back at her as he held out a hand. It was painfully clear to each of them Morgan was so utterly helpless in their current situation that Keiro didn't even want to have that argument, even if it wasn't an argument. Attia put her hand in Keiro's and let him pull her up onto the horse in front of him. After wrapping one arm around her, he snapped the reins and the horse began to run.

It took only twenty or so minutes before Attia could see the remnants of the attack. As she and Keiro drew closer, she could clearly see the wrecked and damaged carriages, some missing wheels, some completely turned over, and others utterly destroyed. Bodies littered the ground, but Knights and Guardsmen made up the minority of the dead.

"This was mine and Morgan's carriage," Keiro commented as he slowed the horse to a trot when they reached a carriage towards the middle of the progression. Attia looked around at the carriage, noticing his and Morgan's separate trunks were nearby, Morgan's open and the contents strewn about the ground.

"Where were Finn and Claudia?" Attia asked. Keiro didn't answer but urged the horse onward, slowing again when he reached another carriage. The carriage Finn and Claudia rode it wasn't was badly damaged as Keiro's, but a higher concentration of Knights and Guardsmen lay dead around it than anywhere else. "I don't see Charles."

"Maybe he's with them," Keiro suggested. He completely stopped the horse, and Attia jumped down to the ground. As she walked towards the carriage, Keiro had dismounted the horse as well. She was interested in Finn's open trunk, but Keiro hadn't followed towards the carriage. When she noticed his presence again, he carried a sword he must've taken from one of the fallen Knights or Guardsmen. "Here," he said simply as he handed the sheathed sword to her. Without argument, Attia attached the weapon to her belt before she continued poking through Finn's trunk. "What are you looking for?"

"Anything," Attia answered. "Something missing. Something left behind."

"What's that?" Keiro asked as he pointed to something pushed up against the back edge of the trunk. Attia pushed around the contents of the trunk until she revealed what Keiro had asked about.

"Just a folder," Attia answered as she opened it. "It's the list of everyone who was on progress with us," she added. She tore the page out of the folder and folded it up before she pushed into her pocket.

"I don't see anything," Keiro said, but Attia didn't reply. Instead, her gaze shifted to the carriage, except Keiro could tell she wasn't looking at the carriage. "I heard it too," he said softly as he moved his hand to rest on the handle of the sword Mason had given them. As Attia followed Keiro around the broken carriage, she grasped the handle of her sword as well. As they reached the other side of the carriage, Attia turned back to the wooden wreckage.

"Underneath," Attia said quickly as she dropped to her knees and started to pull on the broken boards of the carriage.

"What if it's one of the attackers?" Keiro questioned, still standing off to the side of Attia.

"What if it's Finn?" Attia snapped back. Without responding, Keiro dropped to his knees as well and began to pull on the closest board. Under their combined strength, it snapped back violently. Attia released the board, letting Keiro toss it to the side, before they braced their hands against the bottom of the carriage. As they lifted the carriage, they managed to slide it to one side enough to see a moving hand reach out.

"Finn?" Attia called hopefully but received no response. She kept hold of the heavy broken carriage until she and Keiro had managed to move it far enough. After a small space had opened, they reached into the space, each finding an arm to grab hold off. Attia used her free hand to push some dirt and rocks away from the space until there was a large enough opening for the pair to pull the body from beneath the carriage debris. "Charles," Attia said as she cradled his head in her lap. Her eyes scanned his body for any serious injury.

"Didn't think you'd find me," Charles said in a raspy voice. Keiro had gone to Claudia's trunk and forced it open while Attia remained with Charles. Once he found a bottle of water, Keiro returned and handed it to Attia. She slowly tipped the liquid into Charles' mouth. "How long has it been?"

"Couple hours," Keiro answered as he looked around at their surroundings. They'd been attacked on a mountain path leading through the Primstone Mountains. There wasn't a village or town in any direction that Keiro knew of. The closest place he knew was Ronan's manor, where he'd gone with Morgan right after the attack. "We should go back, Attia," he said as he looked back down at her. "We can't protect ourselves out here. There's too many ridges and hiding places. And I don't know the area at all."

"We can't leave him, Keiro," Attia snapped as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"We only have one horse. What do you want to do? Walk?"

"Go find a horse, then," she suggested before she looked down at Charles.

"He's right, Attia," Charles said after he coughed. The water had made his voice smoother. "You're Regent, now. You shouldn't have come." 

"I had to come," Attia replied. When Attia looked up again, Keiro had left the two and was poking through the debris of the next carriage. "How many attacked you?"

"At least twenty," Charles answered as he slowly tried to sit up. Anne could see blood staining his shirt and pants down one entire side. Blood was smeared across his arm as well. "It was so sudden."

"Did you see what happened to Finn and Claudia?" Attia asked.

"They ran towards the tree line," Charles answered, turning his head to look to the other side of the path. The trees and shrubbery of the forest was dense, and Attia could not see very far. As she turned, she found Keiro emerging from the tree line a ways down the path, a second horse trailing behind him. She had started to help Charles to his feet but when she looked up again, she found Keiro sprinting towards her. A second later, she heard the sound of a footstep behind her. Turning, she found a man wielding a sword coming towards her and Charles. She had instinctively reached for her sword, but by the time she'd pulled it, Keiro was already between her and the attacker, a sword in his right hand, a dagger in his left. The man had swung his sword clumsily at Keiro and a few seconds and a few well placed strikes later, the man fell to the ground bleeding from open wounds across his chest and arms. Attia knew Keiro had killed him but tried not to think about the notion.

"We need to go," Keiro declared as he turned back to Attia, but she met his gaze for only a few seconds. "We can send a military party back out, but we can't stay here anymore," he added when she stared at him. She almost hated the way he seemed to know what she was thinking. Keiro turned away from her and whistled at the nearest horse that he and Attia had ridden. When he walked towards them, Keiro went to Charles, supporting the injured man with one arm. After managing to get Charles onto the horse, he retrieved the other he'd left behind when he spotted the attacker. When he returned with the horse, he stared at Attia. She looked back at him, both aware suddenly aware of the tension between them.

It was one thing for them to be around one another in the presence of their common friends, namely Finn. It was a quite another thing, however, for the two to be forced to work together. Especially when both were constantly reminded of how they stood with one another. Every time she touched his skin when she bandaged him made sure of that. The way he wrapped his arm around her when they rode the horse. The way knew how to move around each other.

"Get on the horse," Keiro told her, somewhat colder than he'd meant.

"I'm riding alone?" Attia questioned as she took the reins of the horse from Keiro's outstretched hand.

"If we get attacked again, you need to get away as fast as possible," Keiro told her as he walked to her side of the horse. Her eyes followed him carefully. He knew she would never voluntarily leave Charles if he was under attack. Whether that still applied to him, Keiro was unsure.

"I'm not going to leave."

"You don't have a choice," Keiro replied. Attia detected the cold edge to his voice but did her best to ignore it. He put his hands on her waist as he lifted her up so she could throw her leg onto the other side of the horse. Turning away before she could meet his gaze again, Keiro climbed onto the other horse so that Charles was seated behind him.

The way to Court was long since Charles insisted they avoid all the major roads and towns. By the time they'd gotten to the gates, it was well into the night, and all three were exhausted. As soon as they went through the gates, however, a messenger was sent sprinting into the palace. Keiro slipped off his horse first and helped Charles down slowly, the older man having grown weaker over the course of their trip. By the time Keiro went to Attia, hoards of Courtiers had flocked outside, Councilmen leading the pack while a few others pushed through the crowd.

Ignoring the talk and whispers, Keiro held his hand up and Attia braced herself on his arm. His other hand went to her waist as he helped pull her down from the horse. Her fatigue was clear as she tried to step on the ground, relying heavily on Keiro. It didn't even occur to Keiro what Morgan saw in the pair as he walked with one arm still around Attia, leading her through the crowd of people and into the palace. A few Guardsmen had come to Charles' aid and helped him behind the pair who now essentially ruled the Realm.


	14. Chapter 14

Casper walked into the house behind Bradley and Anne's father. Since he'd learned of Anne's previous betrothal, Casper had been quieter than usual. Bradley knew why, but Anne's father remained in the dark as to the reasons for the obvious changes in their Royal guest. Of course, Casper was hardly surprised that Anne's father didn't seem to care though.

Anne, Jane, and Elizabeth were already in the front room of the house when the three men joined them. Anne's father went to Elizabeth as Bradley joined Jane in the seating area. Casper eyed Anne but remained a few steps away from her. She smiled at him before she held out her hand for him. Without saying anything, Casper clasped his hand in hers before he closed the distance between them to press a kiss to her cheek.

"How was the city?" Anne's father asked, his questioned directly to his youngest daughter. Casper's gaze remained on Anne as she smiled weakly at her father.

"It was fine," she replied simply.

"What's wrong?" Casper asked softly. With his other hand, he touched her waist, his eyes remaining locked with hers after she'd looked to him confused.

"What?" Anne asked, sounding genuinely surprised. She tried to hold Casper's gaze, but her eyes wandered first to Jane and Bradley. Only Bradley matched her gaze, and he knew, too, that something had upset her. When she looked to the other side of the room, her parents watched her and Casper with amazement. They'd never expected a Prince to know their daughter so well.

"Something's bothering you," Casper said finally when Anne's eyes returned to him.

"I'm fine," she lied as she looked away from him and released his hand. She looked to her father and forced a smile before she spoke again. "What did you guy do today?"

"Just the usual," he answered. It was clear to Casper than her father under no circumstances enjoyed tension of any kind. The man changed the subject to less uncomfortable topic whenever need be. "We almost had a bit of a run in with one of the goats." 

"It tried to eat me," Casper said bitterly. Anne laughed as she looked up at him, her expression warmer now that a different topic had taken hold.

"Why?"

"I don't know," Casper answered as he held up his arm. Anne looked down at his arm before she narrowed her eyes at him.

"That's a scratch, Casper," she told him slowly. Behind him, Anne could see Bradley grinning, attempting to hold back his laughter. She let her gaze shift to her father for a second, but that was long enough for her to determine that both men were quite amused at Casper's expense.

"No," Casper objected. "It tried to eat my arm!"

"I'm sure," Anne replied as she smiled at him.

"You're just being condescending, now," he accused as he narrowed his eyes at her. She only laughed before she pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss. She had noticed, however, that Casper was more reserved than he had been previously. When she met his gaze, she knew something was bothering him as well.

"What else happened today?" she asked as she looked up at him, her face falling.

Casper only let out a breath before he shook his head. "Nothing," he answered. At the sound of somebody approaching the house from the outside, Casper looked up at the front door. The Knights, however, had already gone to the door and opened it. A messenger from Court met their gazes before they let him pass.

"I have word from Court," he said as he approached Prince Casper, taking a second to take in the Prince's outfit.

"Just give it to me," Casper snapped as he held out his hand for the paper. The messenger bowed quickly before he backed away towards the door. Before he left the house, however, Casper looked up at him again. "Hey!"

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"Not a word, do you understand?" Casper said strongly as he narrowed his eyes at the messenger. "About anything."

"Yes, Your Majesty," the messenger replied with a nod but was unable to wipe all traces of amusement from his face. "Would you like me to stay and wait for your reply?" 

"Yeah, just hold on," Casper said simply before he turned to Anne. "Just tell me what's wrong," he told her as he held the folded paper in his hand. He wasn't as interested in the message as he was in Anne.

Anne groaned as she turned to her parents for a moment then to her sister. "Could we have a minute, please?" she asked before she looked up at Casper again.

"Of course, sweetie," her mother answered as she nudged her husband out of the kitchen and towards the stairwell. Bradley and Jane had moved upstairs as well and eventually only the messenger, the Knights, and Guardsmen were left, but all of whom were sworn to secrecy should they hear or see anything personal during their work.

Casper waited patiently for Anne to speak, putting his hands on her waist as he waited. "It was something Jane said," Anne said softly. She was well aware her family could still hear everything, but the idea of privacy made her feel somewhat better.

"What was it?"

"She called me your mistress."

Casper remained quiet, unsure of how to respond. It wasn't exactly a new idea to think of Anne in that way, but Casper had no idea how to handle the situation when it involved her sister. Before Casper seemed to be required to say anything, Anne simply continued.

"And we used to be close. She was my best friend forever, but now everything feels different here. Like I don't fit in here anymore. Did I change that much since we first met?"

"No," Casper answered as he reached up to touch her cheek. "Of course not. But you know I don't see you that way, Anne. And neither do most people. You're one of the Queen's best friends regardless of our relationship."

"Everyone treats me differently. Everyone except my mother and Bradley."

"Well, I believe that," Casper replied before he could stop the response. Anne narrowed her eyes at him as he cleared his throat, silently hoping she'd let the comment slide.

"What does that mean?"

"He told me that you were betrothed," Casper answered simply. Anne's face changed immediately as she started to turn away from Casper. Before she could entirely, he put a hand on her waist, his other reaching up to touch her cheek. "I just didn't know, Anne," he said, hoping she didn't think he was mad.

"I didn't think he would say that," Anne admitted as she met his gaze.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Casper questioned as he looked down at her. "I mean I chased you. For months, and not once did you ever say that. You shot me down in a number of creative ways, and I admit that you're the only girl who's ever managed to embarrass me like you have. But you never said you were to be married."

"Like that would've ever made a difference," Anne replied sharply, suddenly becoming defensive. "It's not like you ever gave up."

"Yes I did," Casper answered. "And I would've stopped chasing you around if I'd known. Betrothed girls are not worth the trouble," he said, sounding almost comic even in the midst of their half-argument.

"You gave up?" Anne asked. Casper remained quiet as he nodded slowly. He cleared his throat as he took a step away from her.

"Yeah, I uh… I decided that I would ask you to that ball after Keiro was back and when you shot me down again, I was going to take someone else. But uh… but you said yes and I went with you. And I waited for you to tell me to go away again for the next few weeks and you never did. Then I waited months for you to say you were tired of me, but you never did that either."

Anne was silent as she just stared at Casper. She couldn't recall a single time she'd ever seen him as vulnerable as he was right then.

"Did you love him?" Casper asked when it was clear Anne wouldn't respond.

"What?"

"Did you love Bradley?" Casper repeated. "When you were going to marry him, were you in love with him?"

"It was different, Casper," Anne answered, but Casper shook his head.

"That's not what I asked, Anne."

"Yes," she said with a heavy sigh. "I thought I loved him. But it's not like it was ever some kind of love match, Casper. Our betrothal was for all intents and purposes an arranged marriage. It was convenient."

"Well, he still loves you," Casper said simply as he shrugged.

"No he doesn't, Casper," Anne replied sharply. Her tone was more like she was arguing her point rather than simply telling Casper. "That's ridiculous."

"Is it?" Casper asked. "Maybe that's why your sister is mad at you."

"She's not mad at me!"

"Really?" Casper asked, ignoring how upset Anne was becoming. "She basically called you a whore, Anne." Anne had stepped forward and stuck Casper across the face so quickly, he'd hardly known what had happened. As he touched his cheek, he met her gaze.

"Your Majesty?" the closest Knight called, but Casper only shook his head at the man before he turned to Anne again.

"That's not what she said, Casper," Anne said strongly.

"Fine," Casper replied with a shrug. "But it doesn't change the fact that you left, picked up a royal, and dumped your fiancé that she's now set to marry. I'm not a woman, Anne, but that sounds like reasonable grounds to be upset to me."

"No," Anne replied as she shook her head. "Bradley doesn't love me anymore."

"How did you break it off?" Casper asked curiously.

"I-"

"Did you even tell him?"

"Not at first," Anne admitted as she looked away from Casper. "I was only supposed to be at Court for a few months. Just to make money to help build a new farm house. Then the months turned into a year and then another six months after that. And eventually, he just… assumed."

Casper didn't say anything as he stared at her. The longer he watched her, the more uncomfortable she became. "I know it's bad," Anne finally said with a heavy sigh. "I know I should've told him. I should've told everyone, Casper, but I didn't and I can't change that anymore."

"When did you tell your family it was me?"

"A couple months ago," Anne answered with a breath.

"Ok, well, I don't have a sister, Anne, but I'm assuming they don't like to marry people who were dumped by their little sister. And they probably don't want their future husband to still be in love with her."

"Why do you think he's in love with me, Casper?" Anne finally asked, feeling a little defeated by the conversation.

"The way he looks at you for one," Casper answered. "I didn't notice it at first until he told me about you and him. And the way he talks about you. And the way he doesn't say anything about your sister."

"That doesn't mean anything, Casper."

"Maybe not, but all I know is when Finn, Keiro, and I are all together, Finn talks about Claudia, I talk about you, and Keiro talks about Attia regardless of who he's been sleeping with. It's a little odd to not talk about the woman you're going to marry."Another tense silence followed as the pair stared at each other. Anne had no idea what to say while Casper wanted desperately for her to say anything before he was forced to continue.

"Did I steal you, Anne?" Casper asked finally. She let her eyes drift for a second, but Casper stepped towards her and put a hand on her cheek.

"Yes," she answered after he'd drawn her attention back to him. "Yes, you stole me, Casper."

"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked again.

"I liked it, Casper, ok? I liked you chasing me. Everyone told me to not get involved with you because you were a heartbreaker. Because nobody could ever hold your attention for that long and I wasn't any different from any of the other girls. But I liked it. I liked how hard you tried. I liked being wooed. It's not like Bradley ever tried to win me over. He never tried to woo me like you did, and I liked how it felt. I liked feeling like somebody wanted me. I liked feeling loved even though I knew that you didn't love me like I loved you," Anne spit out as quickly as she could but still unable to conceal her hurt from her last words.

Casper pressed his lips to hers hard, desperate to feel her against him. His arm wrapped so tightly around her, he was mildly aware he might be crushing her. But as she wrapped her arms around his neck, he was urged to continue. As he took steps forward to find the counter, they knocked over a stool, but even the crash didn't distracted them enough to pull apart. Pressed up against the counter, Anne released Casper's neck to brace her hands on the edge of the counter. She pulled from Casper for a moment to push herself up to the counter, their faces now more even matched when he pressed his lips to hers a second time. They continued for only a few more second before Casper forced himself away from her.

"I did love you, and I thought you hated me," Casper said breathlessly as he pressed their foreheads together. "But you should talk to Bradley still," he added as he pulled away from her, only his hands remaining on her waist. "It hurts to love someone who doesn't even see you."

"I know," Anne replied as she held Casper's gaze. He stole another kiss from her before he buried his face in her neck. His arms tightened around her again as she wrapped her arms around his neck, letting her own eyes drift shut. As Casper pulled away from her neck, he pressed their lips together in a much slower kiss as one hand reached up to touch her cheek. She returned the kiss as she let one of her hands rest on his chest, her fingers pressing to feel his muscles beneath the thin cloth. Neither heard her family descending the stairs until the fail step creaked, and the pair pulled apart. By then, her mother, father, and sister were already in the room near the staircase. It was Bradley who's stepped on the stair wrong.

Casper looked up at everyone for a second before he recalled the paper in his hand, no crushed and folded from grapping and kissing Anne. As he looked back down, he tore the envelope and pulled the paper from inside.

"We have to go," Casper said simply when he looked up at Anne. Nobody else had said anything in the room, but Casper was wholly unaware of the tension.

"What? Why?" Anne asked, but Casper didn't respond. He'd turned to the Knights near the door instead.

"Get the horses ready," he ordered, turning back when Anne pulled on his arm.

"Why?" she demanded.

"I've been summoned to Court," he answered when he met her gaze.

"Summoned?" Anne repeated. "And why Court? The King is on progress, Casper."

"Finn didn't summon me. Attia did," Casper answered as he started to pull on the strings of his shirt. "Can you get my riding coat?" he asked as he turned to the messenger. The man nodded and Casper simply pointed down the hallway that led to his room.

"I don't understand, Casper," Anne said as she jumped down from the counter and followed him to the center of the room. "Attia doesn't have the power to summon you."

"As Regent, she does," Casper replied.

"No. She'd only be Regent if Finn and Claudia were missing."

Casper turned back to Attia slowly, hoping she wouldn't respond to the news too terribly. Of course, as the realization set in, he face contorted and tears began to form. "No," she said as she shook her head.

"We need to go, Anne," Casper repeated as he turned to the Knights. "Somebody get her things, please."

"No!" Anne yelled, forcing Casper's attention back to her. "Is Claudia dead?"

"I don't know," Casper replied as he touched her cheek softly. "Attia is in control now and I need to go back to Court. If you want to stay, then I'll leave two men for you."

"Is Keiro ok?"

"I don't know that either," Casper answered.

"I can't miss my sister's wedding," Anne said, her voice beginning to break. "Are they looking for her? Do they know what happened? Where they are?"

"I don't know," Casper repeated, knowing Anne feared the worst for her friend. "Finn would never let anything happen to Claudia. You know that. And Attia will look for them."

"What if they're dead?" Attia asked her voice breaking. The tears had slipped from her eyes but Casper bent down to kiss them away.

"Don't think like that."

"If you're King, Council will get rid of me."

"What?" Casper asked a she stared down at her. "I wouldn't be King, Anne. You know that. I'm behind Attia. She'd have to die, too."

"You think Council will put up with her and Keiro? And then it'll be you. And then they'll get rid of me."

"I won't let that happen," Casper replied before he pressed his lips to her forehead. "I'll send word as soon as I get to Court. Take the carriage back as soon as the wedding ends. Don't forget my trunk. And their wedding gift is in there, too."

"You bought something completely useless for them, didn't you?"

"No," Casper replied sharply. "It's a beautiful gift."

"This is a farm, Casper. There's no room for shinny gold and pretty diamonds.

"Fine, then give them the gold in there, I don't care," Casper answered as he rolled his eyes and began to walk towards the door. The messenger had come from the back room carrying Casper's shirt and coat. He quickly discarded himself of the thin shirt Anne gave him and pulled his own riding shirt over his head before he slipped his arms into the sleeves. Turning to the Guards and Knights, he pointed at two. "You two stay with her. She doesn't leave your sight for any reason at all. If I find out she was left alone for half a second, you both lose your jobs and titles, and lands and everything else I can take away from you short of body parts. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Sire," both replied as they nodded. Casper turned back to Anne, finding her right behind him. He pressed his lips to hers in a deep kiss before he forced himself to pull apart.

"Please be careful," she told him. He only flashed his smile at her before he kissed her one last time.


	15. Chapter 15

When Casper reached Court, he went straight to Council's meeting hall rather than his chambers like he usually would after a long ride. When he found the room empty, he continued to the next floor where Finn's office was. It was there he found Attia seated in Finn's desk, Keiro standing off to one side of her, Charles on the other. The Councilmen were scattered around the room and everybody seemed to be speaking at once.

Casper pushed his way through the room until he reached the desk, his eyes scanning Keiro first. He saw the small scratches and bruises that spread across Keiro's arms before he turned to Attia. "Are you ok?" he asked, ignoring the man standing off to the side of the desk. Attia nodded as she looked up at him, also ignoring the man who was competing for her attention.

"I stayed at my father's an extra day when they were attacked," Attia explained.

"Where are they?" Casper asked. Attia didn't respond so Casper looked up to Keiro. He shook his head minimally, but Casper understood.

"We need to determine if-"

"Enough," Attia snapped, stopping the man beside Casper from continuing. "Everybody out of the room," she ordered as she stood up and looked around the office. She'd always known how overwhelming it was for Finn, but she'd never really appreciated his role until now. "Clear the room, right now," she repeated when hardly anybody had left the room. Slowly, some of the men had begun to trickle out of the room until only Councilmen were left. Attia knew why they would be hesitant to leave her alone with Keiro and Casper. If she was going to plot anything with anybody it would be with them.

"What part of leave the room confused you?" Keiro snapped as he meet the eyes of a few of the Councilmen. His gaze was significantly colder than Attia's, urging a few more of the men to leave. Vega was one of the few who remained, but he was the only one brave enough to approach the desk.

"The Councilmen are just concerned about your priorities," Vega explained as he met Attia's gaze.

"Get out of the room," Attia said, refusing to speak about any politics with any of the Councilmen. That was undoubtedly one of the reasons they were hesitant to give her opportunities to conspire. Vega nodded before he reluctantly turned and lead the rest of the men out of the room. When the door finally shut, only Attia, Casper, and Keiro remained.

"Where is Anne?" Attia asked.

"Wanted to stay for her sister's wedding," Casper answered as he eyed Attia. "Are you sure you're ok, Attia?"

"Do I have a choice?" Attia replied. Casper nodded, understanding the pressures Attia was under.

"Do you have a plan?" Casper asked.

"No," she answered as she plopped back down into the chair. "I don't know what to do. I've run out of ideas. I already sent twenty men to the site to find anything they can find, but I don't think anything else will turn up. We haven't found their bodies and there's been no word of them anywhere."

"I think we should search the entire surrounding area," Keiro offered as he looked down at Attia.

"Do we have enough men for that?"

"You can summon the standing army," Keiro replied. Attia looked up at him but didn't reply. She slowly turned to look back at Casper.

"I don't know if they'll even give me enough time to find them," Attia said simply as she leaned back in the chair. She looked up at Casper first before she looked at Keiro, but only Keiro recognized the hopelessness in her face. He hadn't seen that look across her face since they'd left Incarceron, and it was difficult for him to acknowledge that it was possible for that look to take shape on the outside.

"What do we do if it comes to that?" Keiro asked. Attia's eyes went dark for a moment before she looked away from Keiro. He had some idea what that meant but wasn't yet sure.

At the next scheduled Council meeting, Attia, Keiro, and Casper were already in their seats before any of the Councilmen arrived. That was not comforting to the Councilmen, but they took their seats anyway. Eventually, when all the seats filled up, Attia looked across the table, hyperaware all the Councilmen were looking for any reason at all to remove her from power.

"When the military party returns from the attack site, I want to thoroughly search the entire area for anything," she declared simply. Instantly, the room filled with protests and agreements from various different men. Attia sighed as she leaned back in her chair.

"Shut up," Casper groaned, unable to take the noise the Councilmen generated all on their own. The men quieted almost immediately, most of them turning to stare at Casper in surprise.

"We simply don't have the men for that," Vega said as he looked across the table to Attia.

"Use the standing army," Attia replied. Again, she met with instant protest, but it was Vega who quieted the men the second time around.

"That will leave us open for attack."

"I don't care," Attia replied. "I'd rather get attacked than not try to find Finn and Claudia at all. I know everyone of you wants Finn back, and yet you all fight me for everything I want to do to find him."

"Your methods aren't exactly what we had in mind."

"Again, I don't care," Attia replied. "Use the guards around the palace then instead of the standing army."

"We can't afford to lower the amount of guards," one of the Councilmen declared as he leaned over the table to peer at Attia.

"Then pull the guards from the Queen's household," Attia replied. The men protested again, but Attia was running out of patience. "They aren't guarding anything! We don't have a Queen right now! Are you kidding me?"

"What are we to do with all of her ladies then?" one of the men asked.

"Send them home," Attia replied sharply. Before anybody could respond, the door the Council meeting hall opened and Attia peered up to see Morgan letting herself into the room. The other woman's presence was obviously distracting since everyone in the room could see Attia's gaze following Morgan around the table. Morgan reached Keiro, but even as Attia watched her, she avoided Keiro's gaze.

"Keiro, I haven't seen you in days," Morgan told him as she put her hands on his shoulders and bent down so their faces were close together. Attia screwed her eyes shut as she turned forwarding, willing Morgan to disappear.

"How did you get in here, Morgan?" Attia asked in as calm a tone of voice as she could muster. Attia suddenly realized it was the first time she'd been around Morgan and Keiro since she argued with Keiro at her father's. Of course, she'd been with them after that, but Keiro had been on the brink of bleeding to death and Attia simply didn't pay her attention. Seeing them together now, knowing what Keiro saw in her, Attia could not stop the sudden stab of pain she'd been so good at pushing away recently.

"There aren't any guards outside."

"Of course there aren't," Attia mumbled as she cleared her throat and turned to look at Casper. "Hurry up and get out, Morgan," she said simply as she forced herself to look at the couple. Keiro had expertly avoided Attia's gaze.

"I just wanted to make sure you were ok," Morgan said as she looked to Keiro. Attia stared forward, her eyes locking with Vega, but even Vega could tell she wasn't really looking at him. She was just looking anywhere but at Keiro and Morgan.

"I'm fine, Morgan," Keiro replied as he reached up to his shoulder to take her hand. "You should just go out with the other ladies for the day. Get some air. Maybe… do something… somewhere else."

"Well, will you be available for dinner, tonight?" Morgan asked as she stepped around Keiro's chair to look at him more directly.

"Probably not," Keiro answered as he looked up at her. "We're busy, Morgan. Trying to find Finn and Claudia."

Casper could see Attia's face clearly as she tried to keep her face neutral. She was only successful to an extent, and Casper had paid close enough attention to see how annoyed she was by Morgan. Of course, he was willing to bet Attia was a little more than annoyed.

"You should send a search party," Morgan said, her tone lighthearted as she smiled at Keiro.

"Really, Morgan?" Attia snapped as she turned to face the pair. "A search party? We hadn't even thought of that. It's such good luck that you've wandered in here and brought that idea to our attention."

Keiro did not look at Attia when Morgan did, but instead fixed his gaze on the end of the table. Attia had noticed that only Morgan met her gaze, and after the last few days, she wondered what had changed between her and Keiro. They'd argued, but that certainly wasn't a new concept. They'd worked together, but that wasn't really new either. But with Morgan ever present, even those things felt different.

Morgan wasn't sure how to respond as she stared blankly at Attia. Part of her wanted to believe Attia had meant what she said, but some part of her was reasonable enough to recognize the sarcasm laced in her words.

"I'll send for you later tonight, alright," Keiro said as he stood up from his seat. His hand had moved to rest on the small of Morgan's back, and he'd turned his head to look at her, still expertly avoiding Attia. Morgan only looked at Attia for another second before she looked up at Keiro and nodded slowly before she stepped away from the table. Keiro followed her to the door, and Attia watched them as well.

Before they reached the door, Morgan stopped walk and turned to look back at Keiro, her hands going to his neck. One of her arms wrapped around his neck completely as she held his gaze. Neither noticed Attia's narrowed eyes still on them, but everyone seated at the table certainly had noticed.

"I love you, Keiro," Morgan said softly, but the room was so quiet that even Attia had heard the admission.

Casper's eyes had widened as he stared at Keiro and Morgan for a second before he had enough sense to look up at Attia. He knew he should do something, but he was a man, and Attia was a woman. Plus, in the realm of Attia and Keiro's strange relationship, he had no idea which way was up. That was Anne's territory, and she definitely couldn't save him now.

If Keiro had responded to the words at all, nobody could tell. Of course, most people were watching Attia anyway. Watching as her jaw tightened and all her muscles seemed to tense. If he hadn't heard a long breath leave her lips, Casper would've thought she'd stopped breathing entirely.

"I love you, too," Keiro answered, and Casper was positive Attia had stopped breathing that time. Keiro pressed his lips to Morgan's in a soft quick kiss before he turned away.

"Oh, god," Attia groaned as she shut her eyes and turned her head away from Keiro and Attia. She forced a breath in and out before she cleared her throat and stood up. "So, Casper you have fun, alright," she said as she turned towards him and put her hand on his shoulder as she walked passed him. "I'm going to… to go."

"Attia, wait," Casper called as he stood up as well. He'd tried to follow her, but once she'd left the room, she turned down the hallway. Casper made the first turn she'd made, but she'd left the second hallway so quickly he had no idea where she'd gone after that. With a heavy sigh, he gave up and returned to the Council meeting hall, glad Morgan was gone, but Keiro remained, bewildered. "Are you kidding me?" Casper demanded as he stared at Keiro from across the room.

"I don't know," Keiro quickly replied loudly and defensively. Even he knew what he'd done. "It just happened. It's not like I planned it, Casper."

"Are you joking?" Casper yelled at Keiro again, but Keiro only groaned as he propped his elbows on the edge of the table and buried his face in his hands. "Of all the things you could've said to Morgan-"

"I know, Casper!" Keiro yelled as he stood up and glared at the Prince.

"Like 'go away, Morgan' or 'I'm only interested in you as long as you sleep with me' but you go with that?" Casper continued speaking like Keiro had said anything. "You could've even told her to get the fuck out of here, but no, Keiro. You send Attia running away."

"Where did she go?"

"I don't know," Casper answered. "If anybody knows, it's you, so go figure that out while we I try to find Finn and Claudia. I was only a hundred miles away at the time, but I'm sure we can make some progress while Attia plans Morgan's murder."

"Attia is not homicidal," Keiro said like it was a defense to his actions. Casper, however, only stared at Keiro coldly. "She'll show up, Casper. She's not just going to disappear."

"You'd better hope so," Casper replied as he walked around the table to take his seat.


	16. Chapter 16

**Thoughts?**

* * *

><p>Casper and Keiro were in another yelling match, which had become a common occurrence in the last twelve hours that Attia was still unheard from. How she'd gotten passed all the guards and out of Court, nobody was sure. Then again, if anybody could do it, it was her. The two men were in Finn's office, a map of the Realm spread out over the desk. Keiro stood on one side of the desk, his finger pointed to one area of the map. Casper stood directly across from him, yelling about something inconsequential in Keiro's opinion. The men of Council stood idly by around the room, nobody really sure of what to do. So far, they'd managed to keep word on the current state of the Realm under wraps. It was widely known by now that the King and Queen had gone missing and that Lady Attia had carried out her role as Crown Heir by becoming Regent. They'd done fairly well at keeping her disappearance quiet.<p>

"We've had no luck searching the nearby town," Charles declared as he let himself into the room. The arguing subsided as Keiro turned to look at Charles.

"Not going to disappear?" Casper questioned bitterly as he groaned and leaned over the desk. Even when he'd been set to be King, he hadn't cared at all for politics. But everything had been different then. When he was to be King, Claudia his Queen, he knew the Warden would be in control of everything. He wasn't blind or foolish enough to not have noticed the scheming that went into his marriage. Life would've been easy that way. He'd have played a part, probably slept around continuously, and never had been concerned with any of the major issues.

Finn's return had turned everything upside down for a moment, but once everything settled, Casper's place at Court was even better than before. He had the protection of his step-brother and the access to all the beautiful women at Court with none of the political troubles. Now, however, with Finn and Claudia missing, control of the Realm shifted to Attia. With Attia missing, control automatically shifted to him by the Act of Succession. Except this time, he had nobody left to protect him. No Warden. No mother. No Finn. He was at risk to lose everything, because Keiro had let his mistress get a little too chatty.

"You said she took a horse," Keiro said as he stared at Charles, completely unaware of Casper's thought process.

"Yes, there's one horse missing," Charles replied as he nodded.

"Did you look in the forest?"

"No. The forest is dangerous. There's no where for her to stay there."

"The waterfall," Keiro replied. "There's a path way about… I don't know, like ten or fifteen minutes into the forest. Follow it to the left and then it ends and you keep going until you hear the river. Then follow the river up another half hour or so and there's a clearing with waterfall and pool with some caves in the rock face."

"There's no such place in the forest. We've been through it several times before," Charles answered.

"No, it's there," Keiro replied sharply. "We've gone there before. That's where she went, Charles. There's nowhere else she would go."

"Why would she go there?"

"Why wouldn't she? Everything is perfect there. Life doesn't suck there. She doesn't have to answer to ten mindless Councilmen there. She doesn't have to run a fucking a country that she didn't want there. And… and I'm not there." Keiro sighed heavily as he took two steps over to drop into Finn's chair. He leaned over the desk to bury his face in his hands, well aware it was his fault Attia had disappeared. In the forefront of his mind, he remembered those two perfect days over a year ago when they'd found that waterfall in the forest. When he'd been so completely and utterly infatuated with Attia and no other woman could even compare.

When Keiro forced himself to look up again, Charles was gone and Casper looked at him with a hint of pity in his expression. Keiro ignored it as he groaned and forced himself to stand. "There has to be something we're missing," he declared as he looked down at the map.

"You're not doing yourself any favors by-"

"Don't," Keiro snapped, stopping Casper mid-sentence. "I don't want to hear it from you too, Casper. I am not oblivious to what is happening, but I'd appreciate it if everyone could just pretend that people have some inkling of privacy around here."

"There's nothing left to look at, Keiro."

"There has to be something," Keiro replied sharply as he looked up at Casper. "I mean there's all this shit on the table," he pointed out as he lifted the map off the desk and pushed all the documents beneath it to the floor. The papers scatter and mixed up as they floated to the ground in a mess. "And you're telling me there's nothing here?"

"There's nothing here," Casper repeated, ignoring Keiro's outburst.

"There has to be something. There has to be a reason to attack us. Why did they target Finn and Claudia?"

"Because they're King and Queen," Casper answered since he had no other reason.

"Why would somebody hate them?"

"They're… rich and powerful, I guess." Casper sighed as he indulged Keiro's insanity.

"But why would that make them mad?"

"I don't know, Keiro," Casper answered. Keiro groaned as he sat down again. He started to pull open the drawers of the desk, unsure of what he was looking for. Under any other circumstances, most would jump forward to stop Keiro from rifling through the King's personal items, but nobody said anything. Instead, everyone watched as Keiro pushed the contents of every drawer around and shut it loudly when he found nothing useful. Until he pulled a folded up piece of paper from the last drawer and read it carefully.

"We have all the names of the dead, right?" Keiro asked without looking away from the page.

"Yes," Casper answered. "All the bodies have been recovered from the sight. Twenty one dead. Why?"

"Somebody has to be missing," Keiro said as he looked up at Casper. In one hand he held the page he'd pulled from Finn's desk, but Casper was too confused to pay it any attention.

"Yeah. Finn and Claudia are missing."

"No," Keiro said as he handed over the page. "They had to know we were coming that way to attack us the way they did. Somebody had to tell them. Somebody who knew where we were and where we were going."

Casper looked down at the paper, realizing it was a list of all the people who had gone on progress with Finn and Claudia. When he looked up at Keiro, he understood what Keiro was saying. "So whoever told them where you were shouldn't be here anymore," Casper said.

"We need to find everybody on this list," Keiro said quickly as he took the list from Casper's hand to look over it. "Get the list of the dead from the hospital. And find out who's still there injured," Keiro directed as he retrieved a pen from one of Finn's drawers. Others in the room had drawn closer to the desk at the revelation Casper and Keiro had come to. As the other men reached the desk, Casper had started to leave the room, his destination the hospital. "You go to Charles and have him take count of all his men," Keiro said as he scribbled down the list of names under the Knights and Guardsmen sections of the master list onto the back of a random piece of paper he retrieved from the floor. He was painfully aware he rarely exercised his ability to write, but formed the letters as best he could. After handing the page to a nearby man, another page boy had retrieved some blank pages for Keiro to continue writing on.

"Check for all Courtiers," he said as he wrote another list of names and handed it off to another man. He continued to divide the work until he was interrupted.

"The Commander has returned with Lady Attia," a messenger boy yelled across the room. Keiro had stopped what he was doing immediately to look up at the doorway. When the news sunk in entirely, he dropped the pen to the desktop and hastily grabbed the full list of names. Rushing out of the room, Keiro nearly ran to the front gates. As he reached there, he found Attia walking into the palace, Charles only two steps behind her. Though Charles was relieved to have found Attia, she looked none too pleased, especially as her gaze landed on Keiro. He completely ignored the look she gave him as he approached her holding up the list she'd taken from Finn's chest.

"I figured it out," he exclaimed as he quickly tried to unfold the page. After how many times the page had been handled, the edges were beginning to rip and the paper had been crumbled more than once. "Somebody who was on progress with us had to-"

"Go away, Keiro," Attia snapped as she stopped walking once Keiro had approached her. Her face was cold as she stared up at him.

"No," he answered simply, still ignoring her mood. "We just need to figure out who it was that-"

"You love her?" Attia asked, stopping Keiro mid-sentence. He remained quiet after her question since it'd dawned on him that Attia currently cared very little about his revelation. Keiro cleared his throat as he peered around them, suddenly aware that quite a crowd had amassed around them. Undoubtedly, the news of Attia's return to Court had traveled fast. Even Casper was present, standing just in front of the crowd.

"Now? You want to argue about that now?" Keiro asked softly, well aware that at least some of the people present could still hear him anyway.

"Do I have the luxury of your attention all hours of the day?" Attia replied, her voice still harsh and carrying an edge. "I was under the impression only Morgan had that kind of power over you anymore," Attia added bitterly as she started to walk again. Keiro, however, had reached out to take hold of her wrist, pulling her back to him. She'd instinctively ripped her arm from his grasp, her other arm swinging around until her close fist had struck the side of his face.

Keiro only groaned as he reached up to touch his cheek and jaw gently. Already, he knew he'd suffer from at the very least a serious bruise. "Feel better, then?" he asked as he met her gaze again, his hand still on the side of his face.

"Do I feel better?" she repeated. "About what should I feel better? That you're in love with Morgan after what? Two and half weeks of that obnoxious little whore running around Court, calling herself the future-High Duchess. Over a year we've been together and not once did you ever-" Attia stopped herself from continuing but still held Keiro's gaze. He knew she still had more to say but had kept something back. But he couldn't tell if she was even slightly aware that nearly everyone at Court was watching them. He found it difficult to believe she couldn't tell, but she apparently just didn't care.

"And it's not like you ever told me how you felt anyway," Attia continued on when Keiro said nothing. "No, you just don't show up one night and the next week you're hunting for some stupid girl. Then again, it's not really a new concept for you to leave people behind when you've gotten what you wanted."

"That's not fair, Attia," Keiro snapped as he stepped towards her. It hadn't really occurred to him how close they were already.

"How many times have you tried-"

"That was different, and you know it," Keiro yelled back at her, stopping her before she could finish.

"No, this time you were just bored," Attia said simply as she turned away from him and began to walk away.

"Hey! You think you can yell and scream at me in front of everyone and then just walk away?" he demanded as he caught up to her and took hold of her arm. "It doesn't work that way. Everything isn't always my fault despite how badly you may want that to be true."

Again she pulled her arm from his grasp but did so without striking him. "What could you possibly be upset about with me?" she demanded.

"Morgan doesn't bitch about everything for starters," Keiro answered, his own tone becoming harsh enough to match Attia's. "Everything I do isn't wrong to her."

"That woman is so stupid I don't know how she hasn't walked off a cliff yet," Attia replied bitterly.

"Well, why don't you tell me how you really feel?" Keiro replied sarcastically as he walked passed her to head towards the nearby hallway. The people had made a pathway for him to leave, and Attia had no intentions on following him. Instead, she took a different hallway that went to her quarters in a more roundabout way, Charles following behind her so as not to lose the Regent a second time around.


	17. Chapter 17

That night Attia remained in her room, determined not to see Keiro at all. In the hours she spent working with Council and Casper, Keiro had steered clear without her banishing him from the room. She reached behind her to begin unlacing her corset, her fingers straining to find the correct strings to pull. When her door suddenly opened, she quickly moved her hands to her front to hold her slightly loosened corset to her body. As she turned her found it was Keiro who'd let himself into her room. She watched him as he took only a step further and shut the door behind him until she let out a breath and continued to pull at her corset. She figured he'd already seen all there was so there really was no point at feigning modesty.

Keiro simply crossed the room to approach her, still remaining quiet. When he got to her, he pushed her hands away and began to unlace her corset with his nimble fingers. "What are you doing here?" she questioned, her tone much softer in comparison to their last conversation. She almost sounded sad to him.

"I don't know," he answered truthfully once he finished unlacing the corset enough for her to slip out of it. Then he quickly unzipped her skirt before he reached for her robe that lay across the edge of her bed and held it open for her to slip her arms through the sleeves. After doing so, she dropped her corset to her feet and stepped out of it before she let the skirt fall as well. She tied the front of the robe closed as she turned back to face him.

"Well, what do you want?" she asked. Her voice was soft and quiet and hardly carried an edge. Keiro didn't know the answer to her question, nor did he know how to respond to her sudden change in attitude. As he held her gaze, he finally decided what to do. Quickly, before she could really comprehend what he was doing, he pressed his lips to hers. One hand reached up to the back of her head, his other hand resting on her waist as he continued to move his lips against hers. He could feel her fingertips touching his arm, and though he was kissing her, that was the first time Attia had touched him since their split on her own free will other than their earlier alteration. The sensation lasted only a moment longer before she squared her hands on his chest and pushed him away from her. She had quickly turned her back to him as well.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, her tone more forceful than it had been. He could hear the breathlessness in her tone.

"I thought it was obvious," he replied as he took a half step towards her to close the gap between them completely. He touched her waist again with one hand while his free hand gently moved her long hair to one shoulder, exposing one side of her neck. When she made no real show of opposition, he bent down to press his lips against her neck.

It was an odd sensation to Keiro to feel Attia's body pressed against his as he gently left kisses along the most sensitive part of her neck. He was so accustomed to only knowing the feel of one woman for a short period of time until Attia. Now as he returned to her again, it felt better than he'd expected even as she did nothing to encourage him. That was probably why he continued even after she'd pushed him away once.

"Stop," Attia breathed as she moved her head away from Keiro and turned back to him to push him away again. "We shouldn't do this, Keiro," she told him, but he noticed the lack of conviction in her voice.

"Shouldn't we?" he replied as he pressed their lips together a second time. That time, however, he felt Attia's lips move slightly in return. The hand on her waist detected a slight movement in her body posture as she leaned towards him.

"No," Attia mumbled against his lips before she pulled away from him again. Keiro didn't let her protest for very long though, since he quickly closed the gap between them again. He fully wrapped his arm around her, pressing her body against him completely as he continued to kiss her. He took small steps forward, forcing her backwards, until she reached the edge of her bed. She'd almost given into him but with one last surge of strength, she forced him away again. She moved away from him completely to stand on the other side of her bed where he couldn't kiss her again.

"What are you doing?" she demanded as she sat on the edge of her bed, her back to Keiro.

"I know you want this, too," Keiro said simply. He watched Attia shake her head slowly, but she didn't respond in any other way. Slowly, he walked around the bed and stood directly in front of her, but she refused to meet his gaze. He put a hand on her cheek to force her gaze upward. "If you tell me to leave again, I will."

Attia only stared at him, and the silence began to wear thin on his nerves. He knew she wanted him as bad as he wanted her. He felt that much when she let herself kiss him back and when she leaned into him ever so slightly. He didn't actually realize how badly he'd missed her in the last month, but after feeling her again, he almost couldn't control himself. Attia knew all the best ways to touch him to drive him crazy in ways all the other women simply were unable to do. And if one or two had, it'd been completely accidental. That was part of why the familiarity of Attia made him insane with desire.

Of course, he also knew Attia was stubborn enough to reject him anyway. And even though he knew she'd wanted him, he would leave her if she'd said so. Everything was different with her. He would never try everything in his power to seduce her when she'd already made clear what she wanted. When he couldn't handle the silence anymore, he prodded her again. "Do you want me to leave, Attia?"

She swallowed as she stared at him. A heavy breath passed her lips as she shut her eyes and shook her head just enough to answer his question. Almost instantly, Keiro had bent down to capture her lips again but was met with far more enthusiasm than previously. Attia kissed him back eagerly, her lips moving fast and hard as her fingers pushed into the back of his neck. He had only one knee on the bed beside her, but to get in a more comfortable position, Keiro had pushed Attia to her back and laid above her. He'd quickly settled into the space between her legs, knowing how to move around her well. As he felt her hand trail the side of his body and slip under his shirt, he groaned at the contact. Both were well aware it wasn't the first time he'd had physical contact with a woman, but physical contact with any woman simply didn't compare in his mind and Attia's touch felt that much better.

When he moved his kisses to her neck, his other hand slowly undid the front of her robe, his fingers finding her skin as quickly as they could. Attia panted as she arched into his body, her fingers curling to dig her nails into his skin. She could feel the grin taking shape across his lips and knew he was feeling all too self-satisfied that she'd given in to him. That she'd so desperately wanted his touch. His kiss.

Over the course of their relationship, they'd had nights that seemed to go on forever, and they had nights where both were so desperate the passion ran its course quickly. After a month of separation, the fire had burned hot and fast, though neither had gone unsatisfied. In the middle of the night, Attia laid on her side, her back to Keiro, and the blanket pulled up to her shoulders. She could hear Keiro's rhythmic breathing and feel his fingers tracing her bare skin beneath the covers.

"I do love you," Keiro eventually said into the silence. He'd stilled completely as he waited for a response, a new feeling of nervousness and tightness forming in his chest the longer he went without any kind of response. "Attia, are you awake?"

"Yes," Attia replied in a breath. It'd taken her longer than expected to fully comprehend what he'd told her.

"Did you hear me?" he replied, hoping his voice didn't give away too much. He was acutely aware that Attia had a way of deciphering his tone of voice better than anybody else.

"Yes," she answered softly as she rolled over to face him. He hadn't expected her to turn to him and was quite certain his face had shown some excess of ridiculous nervousness in the few seconds before he could straighten out his expression. The new expression didn't last very long anyway since Attia had pressed their lips together, one of her hands pressed firmly against his chest. The longer she held the kiss, the further up her hand moved until she reached his neck and curled her fingers around his flesh. He grinned against her lips before he rolled them both over so he was again above her. Somewhere in the midst of the kisses and touches, he'd heard her mumble her mutual affections for him but some things were so much more important in the middle of the night than three trivial words.


	18. Chapter 18

It was the sunlight that woke Attia up the next morning. In the process of Keiro's unexpected visit, she hadn't properly prepared her room for the night so the curtains were wide open by the time the sun had risen. She groaned as she turned her face into Keiro in a vain attempt to shield the light. Based on the temperature of his skin, however, she had a feeling the sun had already been up for quite some time. She rolled over, accidently pinning Keiro's arm beneath her, to look at the clock on the bed stand.

"Either get out or come back," Keiro snapped. She only laughed as she lifted her body off of his hand. He quickly retrieved it before she lowered herself to the bed again. "Preferably come back," he added as he rolled over to lay right behind her, their bodies pressed together. He put kissed on her bare shoulder as he brushed away the stray hairs that fell there.

"We have to go save Finn," Attia told him as she turned her head to look at him. He kissed her before responding and before she could say anything else.

"Finn is fine," Keiro assured her. "Life out here is simple."

Attia only laughed as she turned away from him. She shook her head as she tossed the covers back and retrieved her robe from the floor. "I don't think Council will see it that way since he is King. And I have no plans to remain Regent for any longer than necessary," she told him simply without even glancing back at him. She'd taken a seat at her vanity table and began to brush out her hair by the time she heard him start rolling out of bed as well. When he appeared in her mirror, he was dressed from the waist down. 

"You should wear a dress," he commented as he grinned at her through the mirror. Attia only rolled her eyes as she shifted her gaze back to her own reflection and continued to brush out her hair. Keiro slowly approached her as he pulled a shirt over his head. As he reached her, he bent down to put a kiss on her cheek since she didn't turn to meet his lips. Without saying anything, he began to pull open the right drawer of her vanity table.

"What are you doing?" she questioned but didn't care enough to actually turn and watch him. Answering her question, Keiro held the ends of the necklace he'd given to her so long ago and began to lower it in front of her. "Fine," she told him, trying to sound as though she were making some kind of compromise. Her tone, however, was far too light for that and her smile gave away her actual emotions anyway. Keiro only smiled back at her as he brought the ends of the necklace to the back of her neck. She set her brush down to collect her hair and allow him to clasp the chain together. Even with big fingers, he was able to do so rather quickly.

"What are you wearing?" Keiro asked as he stepped away from her and started to walk towards her closet.

"The navy pants with a shirt. You're not going to change?" she asked without looking to him.

"No," he answered before disappearing into her closet. When he reemerged, he carried her requested outfit draped over one arm. In each hand he held shoe options. "The starch in the collars kills me when I have to wear a new shirt every day," he complained as he approached her. She turned to look at him, but hadn't really paid attention to what he was holding.

"That's a terrible excuse," she chided before she peered down, only to stare back up at him with as cold a stare as she could muster. He only grinned back at her. "No," she said strongly as she took the clothes from his arm but left the two pair of high heels he'd selected in his hands. "You're ridiculous. You have any idea how uncomfortable those are?"

"You wear them to bed."

Attia tried not to let the comment affect her as she began to dress, Keiro simply standing by. "I don't walk around in bed. Go get flats or something."

"That's not very fun," Keiro told her before he retreated to her closet.

"That's not my concern," she answered. By the time Keiro returned with a more sensible choice in footwear, she was already fully dressed. She slipped the shoes onto each foot before she lead the way out of the room. As per standard protocol, two Knights were stationed just outside her door, Charles one of them. Both knew right away what it meant to see Keiro leaving the room with her. Charles' smile widened at the sight, but Attia narrowed her eyes at him immediately. "Don't look at me like that," she chided before she began to lead the way down the hallway.

"Of course, My Lady," Charles replied, his voice carrying a hint of amusement. "Although, I would like to point out-"

"Don't," Attia said, stopping him. "You weren't right."

"Well, judging from yesterday's show, I'm afraid I am."

"That's not why Keiro was in my room. You're wrong," Attia replied simply, refusing to admit Charles had always been right about her and Keiro. Keiro walked beside Attia while Charles was only a step behind them, but Keiro felt as though he was missing something in the conversation.

"You want me to believe that you reprimanding the poor man in front of everyone did not spur him to come back and perhaps apologize?" Charles questioned.

"He didn't apologize," Attia replied simply. Keiro drew in a breath, doing his best not to interpret Attia's comment as a hint for acceptable future behavior.

"That's not my point."

"I don't care," Attia said with a shrug, sounding much happier than she had been the day before. She had reached the Council meeting hall, and so the conversation simply faded away as the four stepped into the room. Charles and the other Knight remained by the door while Keiro followed Attia to the other end of the table. Casper as well as several other Councilmen were already there, but a majority of the men had quieted when they noticed Attia's entrance. Even a good number of Knights and Guardsmen were stationed around the wall as a means of protection.

"Really, yesterday's clothes?" Casper asked as he eyed Keiro, his clothes, then Attia. "Really?" he repeated, somewhat surprised and thoroughly confused. Everyone in the room was well aware what Keiro's choice in clothing meant.

"No," Attia answered quickly as she sat in Finn's chair. She didn't notice Keiro nod once to Casper, both men grinning wildly like little boys. "Have you tracked down everyone on the list?" she asked as she stared at the Councilmen, her gaze shifting every so often.

"We've not been able to get all of the Queen's ladies," one of the men answered. "But I hardly think one of them are capable of-"

"Don't assume," Attia said, stopping him mid-sentence. "Summon all of the ladies right away, and-"

Attia stopped when the door opened suddenly and Morgan came strolling into the room. Bewildered, Attia's gaze followed the room around the room until she reached Keiro, who was equally shocked to see her. "Keiro, I've been looking for you. You weren't in your room last night. I brought you some coffee," she said as she set the cup she carried on the table.

"I… didn't really get a lot of sleep last night," Keiro said simply.

"Oh god," Attia sighed as she diverted her gaze from Keiro and Morgan. Even the men of Council had some difficulties keeping their expressions straight at Keiro's explanation.

"You couldn't sleep?" Morgan asked.

"You know, I didn't really want to sleep all that much."

"Ok," Attia said strongly as she cleared her throat. "Morgan, you have to go now," Attia declared simply as she turned back to the pair. As she leaned forward, he took Keiro's coffee to take a sip, but only Morgan saw the gesture as odd.

"Well, have you made any progress in finding the King?" she asked curiously.

"No," Attia answered. "And we won't if you keep interrupting us every day."

"You won't if you run away again either," Morgan replied. Keiro's face had instantly drained of color as he slowly turned to Attia, not quite sure what to expect. "Besides, you should look in that cave we passed before the attack," she added before she turned and left the room.

"She's lovely, Keiro," Casper said sarcastically but Keiro only glared at her from across the table.

"What cave?" Attia asked as she looked to Keiro. "What cave is she talking about?"

"I don't know."

"Call her back."

"No, she just left," Keiro objected, but Attia narrowed her eyes at him. With a groan, he stood up and went to the door. Instead of chasing her down the hallway, he simply stuck his head out the door and yelled her name. Quickly, he looked back at Attia. "You have to get rid of her through."

"No. Your whore, your problem," Attia replied, earning a few stifled laughs from around the table.

"That's not fair," Keiro objected in a hushed voice since Morgan was drawing closer.

"Am I having sex with her?" Attia questioned.

"I didn't have sex with her," Keiro replied but was met by a real cold stare from Attia. "Recently," he added just as Morgan came back into the room.

"What cave are you talking about, Morgan?" Attia asked in as kind a voice she could manage. Considering the previous night, the kindness in her voice shocked even Keiro.

"I don't know," Morgan replied as she stood near the edge of the table. "I just saw a cave maybe ten minutes before… everything happened. I think they would've gone there if they could."

Attia turned to one of the guards, who held the map of the area, and motioned for him to come forward. After she laid the map out, she looked up at Morgan. "Could you tell me where it was?"

Morgan sighed as she looked down at the map and looked at it for a moment before she peered up again. "No."

"Was it on your side of the carriage?" Attia asked.

"Yes."

"You sat on the right or left?"

"The right."

"OK," Attia said as she nodded. "Thank you, Morgan. That's all I need." Morgan met Keiro's gaze for a moment before she lifted herself to her toes to kiss him. He'd managed to turn his head and receive the kiss on his cheek, but Attia hadn't even been looking anyway. Instead, she leaned over the map, looking at the drawn line that progress had traveled on. Even so, Keiro felt odd about accepting affection from some other woman especially after having spent the night with Attia.

After Morgan left the room, Keiro turned back to Attia, who'd looked up again. "Thirty plus trained men, and it takes Lady Giggles to see the damn cave?" she demanded as she met first Charles' gaze then shifted her eyes to some of the Guardsmen. When Keiro had returned to his seat, she turned to him as well.

"I didn't see it," Keiro told her before she could say anything.

"No, I'm sure you were looking at Morgan's breasts instead," Attia replied before she turned back to the map. Keiro had enough sense not to respond, but instead stood up to look over the map as well.

"If it was ten minutes before the attack, it should be right around here," Keiro said as he motioned to an area on the map. Attia looked over the area before she peered up at Charles and motioned for him to come.

"Send ten men here to search the entire area," she instructed. Charles nodded before he turned to the men standing along the walls. He pulled a good number before leading them out of the room. Attia sat back down in the chair behind her as Keiro did the same. Eventually the Councilmen also filed out of the room until only Casper, Keiro, and Attia remained in the room along with a few Guardsmen lining the walls.

"You think they'll find them?" Casper asked curiously as he looked between Keiro and Attia. He could tell both desperately wanted Finn to return to his post but as of lately, Casper had difficultly determining whether the pair actually believed their friend to be alive.

"There's always a chance," Attia answered simply. When her gaze shifted to Keiro, Casper had a feeling he hadn't actually had in some time. It was the feeling like he no longer belonged around Keiro and Attia because they were literally from another world.

"Lady Anne has arrived at Court!" a hurried, out of breath messenger nearly yelled after he'd barged into the room. Casper's eyes had looked to him instantly, confused at the haste he'd made to bring the news. "She was attacked in her home village, Your Majesty."


	19. Chapter 19

Casper was almost running down the hallways, desperate to find Anne as fast as he could. Attia and Keiro followed behind him, the three nearly out of breath by the time they reached the main gates of Court. "Anne?" Casper called as he scanned all the faces. He's lingered on her father and sister for half a second each until Anne stepped forward from the side of them. Casper had gone to her so quickly that his arms encircling her had actually caught her off guard. When she got her arms around him as well, he'd already begun to crush her against his body.

"What happened?" Attia asked quickly as she stepped towards Casper and Anne.

"These men just came up to our house," Anne explained as Casper released her. Anne had turned her attention to Attia, who examined Anne's exterior.

"Are you ok?" Casper asked as he began to pull at her arms, looking for any wound. He found a small cut where the blood had already dried, but Casper had over reacted anyway.

"I'm fine," Anne said gently as she faced him and put a hand on his cheek. "I promise. I didn't know what else to do, so I brought my family, too."

"That's fine," Casper answered quickly before he pressed his lips to her temple.

"Did they want anything? Did they say anything? Could you identify any of them?" Attia asked as she held Anne's gaze. Keiro had come to Attia's side as well.

"They were looking for Casper," Anne answered slowly, her gaze falling to the side. She knew as well as everybody else that Casper would only blame himself for having put her in danger.

Attia cleared her throat as she turned back to a few of the Guardsmen who'd hurriedly followed them to see Anne. "Have a room prepared for-"

"Two," Casper corrected quietly.

"Two rooms prepared for Anne's family, please. Assign two Knights to Anne, two to Casper, and two to Keiro."

"No," Anne had protested quickly at the same time that Keiro had groaned as he turned to face her.

"I don't care," Attia said simply as she looked between them before looking back at the guardsmen. "They're not to leave their sides for any reason at any time or they will lose their jobs. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Your Grace," the man answered with a bow before he hurried away to carry out her orders.

As Attia turned back to Anne, she smiled softly. "Claudia's chambers will be closed by tomorrow, so you'll stay with Casper. Your parents will have a room near mine most likely," Attia explained and Anne simply nodded.

"This is my sister," Anne said as she motioned to Jane standing nearby.

Attia only smiled at her and nodded before she looked away to Anne and Casper again. "Don't dismiss the guards. Don't try to get rid of them. That goes for you, too, Keiro," Attia added as she turned to peer at Keiro briefly. The three said nothing so Attia turned away to go back to the hallway. Keiro followed beside her while a few guardsmen trailed further behind. When Keiro had leaned into Attia's ear to whisper something, nobody was close enough to hear the words.

Casper and Anne hadn't been paying attention until Morgan had approached the two. Keiro had quickly stepped away from Attia, well aware what everybody would see if the two were whispering among one another. "Are we in danger here?" Morgan asked strongly as she held Keiro's gaze for a moment until she shifted her eyes to Attia.

"You're not," Attia answered simply.

"Anne was attacked."

"You're not as important as Anne," Attia replied simply before she turned back around and continued down the hallway. Keiro held Morgan's gaze for only a second longer before he shifted his eyes to Casper and Anne. They'd undoubtedly noticed the exchange since both watched him suspiciously. Before they could jump to any conclusions, Keiro turned away and followed down the hallway Attia had taken. Within a minute he was at her side again and leaned into her again as she whispered back a response. It would take a fool to not see that the pair were planning something together and nobody else was privy to it.

A few hours later, Attia was with the men of Council as all the women in Claudia's household were assembled in Finn's office. Casper and Anne were still settling her family into their rooms while Keiro was simply elsewhere. Slowly, the women were lined up until Mason stepped into the room and shut the door.

"This should be everyone," he said as he met Attia's gaze. She nodded at him before she peered at the women and pulled out the long list of names. Before she'd even begun reading them, the doors opened again when Anne and Keiro walked into the room. Attia's attention, however, went straight to Keiro as he walked through the women to come to her side.

Anne narrowed her eyes at the pair as Keiro bent down to line his lips up with her ear and began to whisper. Attia nodded along and after a moment, he stood up straight to retrieve a document from his pocket. Without unfolding it, Attia took it and stuffed it into her own pocket. Then she reached behind her neck to unclasp the chain necklace that carried her keys. Keiro took the keys into his palm and closed his fingers around them before he stepped away from her.

"There are some coins in my room if you need them," Attia said in a normal tone. It was the first comment between them anybody else could hear.

"Ok. I should be back tonight," Keiro said, and Attia nodded in agreement. Without even thinking about it, Keiro had bent down to capture her lips with his in a quick kiss. When he turned around to go back towards the door, he paused when Morgan had stepped forward out of the collection of Claudia's ladies. "Oh shit," Keiro groaned as he stared at her, then looked back over his shoulder at Attia.

"Just go," Attia sighed as she shook her head. "I'll deal with it," she compromised as she looked back down at the list of names.

"No," Morgan argued, determined not to simply let Keiro and Attia decide what to do with her as though she was just an inconvenience in their lives.

"Morgan, you can go," Attia said simply after making a mark on the list. When she looked up again, Morgan had taken hold of Keiro's wrist as she glared at Attia.

"Have you just been lying to me?" Morgan demanded as she turned her glare to Keiro.

"Of course he has," Attia answered as she rolled her eyes and turned back to the list. "Ella Santago," Attia called out then looked around. One of the women had called out in response and Attia leaned over to look at her face. She motioned for the woman to come forward but as Ella approached Attia, Morgan had started to speak again.

"What did you do to him?" Morgan demanded and Attia looked to her slowly.

"Keiro, go do what I asked you to do," Attia said simply. Keiro peeled Morgan's fingers from his wrist before he quickly left the room. Morgan's gaze had shifted to Attia, but she had turned to Anne and motioned for her to come forward. "Is this Ella…" Attia trailed off as she tried to located the name on the list a second time.

"Yes," Anne answered before Attia could find it.

"Great," Attia looked up and motioned for the woman to head to the door.

"I know you did something to make him act this way," Morgan accused as she stepped towards Attia. Before she got within a few feet of her, however, the Guardsmen around her had stepped in. Attia hardly paid the woman any attention as she read off the next name and scanned the ladies. Anne had confirmed her identity before Attia was forced to address Morgan since she would not stop speaking.

"Has it ever occurred to you that you are like all the other women he's discarded and I am not?" Attia asked, knowing she'd already reduced herself to the level of Keiro's past romantic interests. She knew how she sounded to all the women in Claudia's household, but was confident that at least the men of Court were aware of the truth to her statement.

"How dare you-"

"Get rid of her," Attia said simply as she turned back to the list and called the next name. "If she tried to get in here again, arrest her for treason."

"Attia," Anne scolded as she turned to other woman, eyes wide in shock.

"What else am I supposed to do?" Attia questioned as she met Anne's stare. "I won't get anything done if she keeps this up." Before Attia could continue, the door opened and Charles stepped into the room, two men behind him. "Did you find anything?" Attia asked hopefully. It showed in her voice how desperate she was for Finn or Claudia to be found.

"It rained yesterday night," Charles answered as he weaved through the women to reach Attia. "If they left any trace behind, it's gone now." Attia's face had visibly fallen, but she'd done her best to keep as straight a face as possible.

"You found the cave, though?"

"Yes. It was roughly where Lady Morgan said," Charles answered, his tone becoming softer as he recognized the defeat across her face. "We haven't given up yet, My Lady."

"It's been three days," Attia replied as she hardened her face once again. "On the Inside, if you don't see someone for three days, they're probably dead."

"Life here isn't the same. Surely, you know the differences."

"Feels just as ruthless, just in brighter colors," Attia remarked before she called the next name. When no woman stepped forward, Attia nudged Charles over and get a better look at the collection of ladies. "Karen Harrow? Lady Karen Harrow?" she repeated until the women began whispering among themselves. Turning to Anne, Attia rose an eyebrow.

"I don't see her," Anne said softly after she scanned the entire room.

"Does anybody remember seeing her after returning from progress?" Attia called out but received no response. "Who rode with her in the carriage, then?"

"Margret!"

"And Rachel!"

"Margret," Attia mumbled to herself as she scanned over the list. When she located the only Margret on the list, she looked up at Charles, her face solemn.

"What?" Charles asked.

"They're both dead," Attia answered. "But Karen's body wasn't recovered."

"A woman?" Charles questioned. "You think a woman did this?"

"What does it look like to you?" Attia replied sharply. "Everyone else is accounted for," she added as she passed the list to Anne. Turning to her quickly, Anne spoke, "make sure everyone else is here too." Before Charles could get away, Attia turned back to him. "Her body wasn't found and she's not at Court. What does that mean? She didn't ride with Finn and Claudia, Charles."

"Why? What motive does she have?"

"I don't know," Attia answered sharply. "I don't even know who the woman is."

"She's an embroiderer," Anne put in between Charles and Anne's responses.

"Is she noble?"

"I don't know," Attia repeated, obviously annoyed. "Unless she's a Guardsman, I don't know anything about the girl, Charles."

"You're a woman," Charles counted as though that automatically made Attia privy to all of the other ladies' secrets.

"And all us women get along great, Charles," Attia snapped sarcastically. "Somebody send for Casper. Chances are he's slept with her."


	20. Chapter 20

**Let me know what you think so far!**

* * *

><p>When Keiro returned to Court, everyone began to realize he'd been gone nearly all day. The messenger at the front gate had started to send word to Attia, but Keiro had quickly stopped him as he jumped down from his horse. The nearby stable hand took the reins of the horse and accepted the few gold coins Keiro dropped into his hand. Before the boy took the horse away, Keiro retrieved his bag from the saddle and tossed it over his shoulder before he began to walk towards the hallways leading to Attia's chambers.<p>

When he did reach her door, Charles was stationed outside with another Knight, but they let him pass without so much a glance. Keiro shut the door behind him before he peered across the room to find Attia seated at her vanity table. She was leaned over the top of the table as she wrote on a spare piece of paper.

"Did you get them?" she asked softly so Charles and the Knight outside could not hear her words.

"Yeah," Keiro answered as he dropped his bag at the side of her bed. When he reached her, he put a hand on her shoulder before he peered down at what she writing. He only caught the heading of the letter since he recognized Casper's name immediately. "Giving him pointers?" he asked before he bent down to press his lips against her cheek. She laughed once before he moved his kisses to her neck and shoulder.

"Let me finish at least," she chided as she shrugged her shoulder in an attempt to push him away. Except, he was Keiro and such a simple gesture could never inspire him to move away. He simply slipped his fingers around her hair to pull all of her locks to one side of her neck. Then he placed his kisses on the other side of her neck. "Keiro, come on," she laughed as she swatted at him with her left hand.

"I've been on a horse all day," he complained as he stood up and stretched his back. He took the few steps to her bed and dropped down to it dramatically before he propped his head up with his hands. "The least you could do is release some of my tension."

Attia only rolled her eyes at his comment, but he noticed the smile that had formed across her lips. He was well aware of the inherent differences between Attia and all the other women he'd enjoyed the company of recently. With Attia, conversation was easy and usually consisted of light hearted jokes. Whenever there was a real conversation to be had, it wasn't terrible even when they did fight over it. With all the other women, however, he went out of his way to keep the conversation to a minimal. He simply didn't have the attention span or the interest to listen to them talk.

"We only have a few hours," Attia said softly as she folded up the paper and turned back to Keiro.

"Make them count then," he replied, his tone somewhat challenging, but his lips turned up in a smug grin. Attia rolled her eyes again, but did join him on the bed.

The pair lingered in bed after having sex, but both knew it wouldn't last very long. Nonetheless, Attia found the space between Keiro's chest and arm, her head rested against his chest as his arm wrapped around her shoulders and back. When she let out a slow steady breath and readjusted her head, Keiro peered down at her.

"Second thoughts?"

"No," she answered softly. "We found who it was when you were out."

"Who?"

"Karen Harrow. She's an embroiderer. The other two women she rode with were found dead."

"I remember her," Keiro commented and Attia lifted her head instantly to look at him. "I mean, I may have run into-"

"Tell me about her, Keiro," Attia said with a sigh as she stared at him. She knew he'd slept with her if he said he remembered her.

"She was… I don't know," Keiro said as he retrieved his arm from around Attia and began to roll to his side.

"Talking about another woman in bed uncomfortable for you?" Attia questioned as she followed his movements to press her body against his from behind. With a groan, Keiro rolled back to his back and replaced his arm to Attia's shoulders.

"Fine," he said with a sigh. "She was different."

"Her kinky sex preferences aren't really what I wanted to know."

"No, that's not what I meant," Keiro laughed as he met her gaze. "She acted differently than all the other women. Well, she didn't act differently, but that was what was weird."

"I don't get it, Keiro."

"She's an embroiderer in the Seamstress' Office," Keiro explained. Attia felt his arm tighten around her briefly.

"Right," Attia agreed.

"She said she was from the country side. Her father got her a job in the nearby city as an embroiderer and she eventually was able to come to Court. But she acted like all the other noble women. She talked like them, walked like them. She held her glass with the three fingers and everything. It was weird. Anne doesn't even act like the other noble women completely and she's from the same background."

"You think she lied about who she was?" Attia asked as she sat up. Keiro only shrugged as he met her gaze. His hand had moved her waist, his fingers moving along her skin. When Attia threw back the covers and began to crawl over Keiro to get to her vanity table, he groaned.

"No, come on, Attia," he called as he rolled with her, his hands trying to get a hold of her waist. "We're leaving soon, stay in bed."

"I have to tell Casper," she responded. After retrieving her robe from the floor she slipped her arms through the sleeves and sat at her vanity table.

"Yeas, Casper," Keiro repeated in a sarcastic tone of voice. "Every man wants to hear Casper's name in bed." Attia only laughed at the comment as she unfolded the paper and began to write across the bottom, essentially ignoring his pleas.

"You should get dressed anyway," Attia said without looking to him. She heard his let out a deep breath before he reluctantly sat up and tossed the sheets to the side. As he began to retrieve his clothes, he tossed some back to her. When she finished writing she turned back to him when he was folding what appeared to be a shirt to pack it into the bag he'd brought into the room. "Do you have something for me?" she asked.

He looked up at her and nodded but didn't answer verbally. When he finished, he shut the bag and left it on the edge of her bed before he looked back to her. "You're sure you want to do this?" he asked softly as she approached him. He put his hands on her waist as she placed hers on his chest.

"Do we have another choice?"

"If Finn's alive, we don't have to leave," he pointed out.

"If he's alive, Keiro. If we can find him. If he wants to be found."

"I know," Keiro said as he let out a breath. She could tell he had some reserves but wasn't sure how to coax them out of him. Instead, she just rubbed her hands across his chest before sliding one up to his neck. After curling her fingers around his neck, she pulled down until he met her lips with his. They kissed deeply and passionately for what felt like a while until Keiro broke the kiss, keeping his foreheads together as he parted their lips. "What if we never stop running?" he asked as he his eyes opened and met hers. "It was nice here. Not running. Not looking over your shoulder. Not worrying every second of the day."

"How long do you think that will last without Finn to protect us?" Attia replied. He knew she was right, but she understood all the reasons he wanted to stay. "If Finn remains missing for another week, Council will find ways to get rid of me. And if they're going to get rid of me, they're going to get rid of you too. Right now, I'm protecting you, Keiro. Nobody likes you."

"I know," he answered as he laughed. As he drew in a breath, he buried his face in her neck and tightened his arms around her. It was a rare moment for him to be so openly affectionate, so Attia simply stroked his hair until he released her. She never could pinpoint exactly what it was that spurred his random bouts of affection, though she certainly enjoyed them when they occurred.

"By the time they realize we're gone, we're going to be too far for them to find us, Keiro," Attia assured him before she turned away to get her clothes from her closet. When she emerged again, she wore her most comfortable riding clothes. Before going to Keiro, she stopped at her vanity table to retrieve her necklace. She dropped it into a small pouch before pulling the drawstrings to close it. In a second pouch, she collected various other small objects worth quite a few gold coins. She handed her necklace pouch to Keiro but tied the other to the inside of her leg where he noticed she was also carrying a small dagger.

"I put it at the bottom of the bag," Keiro told her, and she only nodded at him. He couldn't explain why her wanting to keep the necklace had made him feel better. When they were both ready, Keiro went to the side wall of her room on the other side of the closet. In the far corner, he pressed his hand against the wall, pushing against it until the portion of false wall opened up. Finn had shown them all the hidden passages he had built into the palace as an emergency escape route should need be. They knew they were abusing the pathways, but neither cared. And it was the only way out of the palace without getting seen or caught by any of the Knights of Guardsmen.

They followed the pathway, taking all the correct turns and stairwells until they reached what appeared to be a dead end. Keiro handed off the bag to Attia before he pressed his hands against the stones. With quite a bit of strength, Keiro managed to get the fake stone wall to swing open just enough for him to squeeze through. Attia passed him the bag through the opening and slipped out of the palace as well.


	21. Chapter 21

It was like history had repeated itself. Keiro and Attia rode horseback in the darkness with no clear destination in mind. One difference from their experience on the Inside, however, was that the horse they rode was not mechanical. Second, and perhaps the more glaring difference, was that Attia actually liked Keiro and vice versa. They weren't constantly at each other's necks, and when they were they didn't really mean most of what they said.

It was so easy for them to pick up and leave Court behind. It had, in it's own ways, become a second prison to them, forcing them to play by its rules and dictating how they should be. The only connection they had at Court was Finn, but in his absence, they were like two out of place misfits. Casper and Anne had slightly complicated that, but nevertheless, the pair left it behind.

Once they'd gotten to a wide open clearing past the nearest villages to Court, the sun had begun to rise. Keiro tightened his arm around Attia when he felt her balance beginning to shift. At the slight movement, her head had shot up, eyes wide open. "It's alright," Keiro mumbled to her and she relaxed back into his body as she let her eyes drift shut again. He'd slowed their pace since they had gotten quite a ways away from Court. And he knew they wouldn't even notice their absence for another few hours at the earliest.

"Where are we?" she asked softly.

"I don't know," Keiro answered. "Should we take the road? It's all open space for a while."

Attia stirred as she sat up on her own to look around at their surroundings. Eventually, she nodded as she focused her gaze on the dirt road. "I doubt anybody could recognize us out here, anyway." Keiro didn't respond, but nudged the reins towards the dirt road. He felt Attia relax again against him, but she kept her head up and eyes open.

For over an hour they traveled in silence, neither really sure of what to say. Attia knew Keiro believed Finn was dead. He never would have abandoned Finn had he carried even an inkling of belief that Finn was still alive somewhere. If that was why Keiro had been unusually affectionate, she would never know. Keiro was quite talented at locking away any emotions and the pieces of the ones he did express she always supported.

"Do you know why she did it?" Keiro eventually asked. Attia could tell from his voice that it had been a question that had haunted him, probably since before they even left Court.

"He was King. He didn't pay her attention. She blamed him for… anything. She didn't like him. It could be anything," Attia replied. She knew she wasn't able to offer him any real insight, but she was also surprised he'd asked at all. Inside there was almost never a reason for a death. In her mind, Keiro knew that best of all. Only after he'd asked did she realize that the first reaction anybody had to her discovering who had been the traitor was a question of motive. Motive never occurred to her as something to consider. Perhaps that was just one of many things that so dramatically set her apart from the other women of Court. Why she so often felt alienated by them, preferring to remain in Finn's household despite social custom.

"I'm sure we'll hear eventually," Attia said when Keiro didn't respond. "It'll spread like wildfire once word gets out." She diverted her gaze to the open farmland where she could only make out small moving specks of people beginning their day.

"Did you call your father to Court?" Keiro asked curiously.

"No," Attia answered, turning her head up to peer up at him curiously. "Why?"

"I think that's him," Keiro answered as he narrowed his eyes. Attia turned around to look forward, her eyes following the curve of the road until she saw the large wooden wagon coming towards them. Two figures sat in the front of the wagon, but she couldn't really make out who they were.

"Are you sure?" she questioned.

"Get my knife," Keiro said strongly. "In my left boot." Attia took only a moment to decide whether or not to indulge his worries before she leaned forward. Her hand followed Keiro's leg until she reached the top of the boot and felt for the handle of the knife. After retrieving it, she hide the weapon in her jacket and sat up straight again. "It's another man next to him," Keiro said once they'd gotten closer.

Attia could now make out her father's face in the distance but she had no idea who he would be with. Only then did she let herself give into Keiro's concerns. Slowly the pair got closer and closer to the carriage, Keiro's arm tightening around Attia's waist again.

Once they were relatively close, Keiro slowed the horse to just a walk before he looked up at the two men. He did not recognize the other man seated beside Attia's father.

"Good morning," Ronan said, wearing a forced smile, his eyes settling only on Attia. "Quite a beautiful morning, isn't it?"

Attia narrowed her eyes at her father before she sifted her gaze to the man beside him. When Keiro realize she wasn't responding, he did. "Yeah it is. Where are you headed?"

"Anyone ever teach you to mind your own business, young man?" the mysterious man beside Ronan snapped, his eyes narrowing as he glared down at Keiro.

"Afraid not," Keiro replied, actually sounding cheerful. He pulled on the reins of his horse to step in front of the horses pulling the wagon. The man pulled on his reins to stop the horses from colliding, his face contorting as he grew angrier. "Maybe you want to answer the question," Keiro suggested.

"Just let us go," Ronan said quickly as his eyes landed on Keiro then on Attia. Both stared up at him with narrowed eyes, neither sure what to make of the situation. "We're heading into the city to sell some crops."

"Can't do that, unfortunately," Keiro replied as he let go of Attia's waist. She had quickly dismounted the horse, but when she walked around the other men's horses to approach the man's side of the wagon, Ronan stood up quickly.

"No, Attia! Don't," he yelled as he tried to get between the two. The other man had been too quick, however, and had pulled his own weapon pointing it at Attia. While he was concentrated on her, Keiro had produced his weapon and approached the wagon from Ronan's side. Pushing the man back to his seat, Keiro pulled on the other man's arm. As they fought, their knives coming dangerously close to each other's skin, Attia left Keiro's immediate attention.

"You might want to stop that," a male voice called. The man beside Ronan had stopped and Keiro had taken the opportunity to slash a shallow cut across the back of his hand. "Hey!" the voice yelled and Keiro looked up to find another man had Attia at gunpoint. "Unless you want your girlfriend's brain all over the road, of course. Hand over your weapon."

Keiro stared at Attia, recognizing the defeat in her face, before he sighed and tossed his knife the floor. The man he'd just fought with landed a hard punch in Keiro's stomach, causing him to double over.

"Keiro!" Attia had called out. She tried to go towards him, but the man beside her had quickly tangled his fingers in her hair. A scream like screech had left her throat as she was yanked back by her hair. Keiro looked up at her before the man who'd punched him pulled him down from the wagon.

"Now, why must you have interrupted us?" the gun wielding man questioned as he narrowed his eyes, first at Attia, then at Keiro.

"The man knows her," the driver said breathlessly before he motioned to Ronan with his knife. "He said her name."

"Great. Wade, put our new friends in the back," the gunman said as he let go of Attia's hair and shoved her towards Keiro. After colliding into him, Attia felt Keiro move in an attempt to strike the man.

"No, don't," Attia called out as she put a hand on his wrist, her other arm wrapping around his waist. Keiro only groaned as he shook his arm out, but held the man's heavy gaze.

"Smart woman," he commented drily before the driver pulled on Keiro's arm. The pair willingly followed the man called Wade since the other man still pointed his gun at them. On the other side of the wagon, Wade unlocked the hatch before the doors swung open. Shocked, Keiro and Attia stared into the wagon to find Finn and Claudia seated against the back with what appeared to be shackles on their wrists.

"Have another pair?" Wade asked as he looked to the woman who sat along the side of the wagon on what appeared to be a makeshift chair. She stared in disbelief at Attia and Keiro before she quickly nodded and reached down to retrieve another couple sets of shackles. After forcing them into the wagon, Wade put his knife to Keiro's throat to force him to hold his arm up. The woman had forcefully grabbed Attia's wrist to chain the two together before Wade pushed Attia down, effectively pulling Keiro down with her. On instinct, however, Keiro had kicked his leg out, managing to clip Wade on the arm before he left the wagon.

"Are you kidding me?" Finn demanded as Attia and Keiro settled into the space beside the royal couple. "This is how you went about rescuing us? No army? Guards? Knights? Nothing?"

"Well, if we had been rescuing you we would've brought all those things," Keiro commented.

"You're right. You're clearly not rescuing us. You're getting held hostage with us," Finn replied sharply.

"What do you mean if you had been rescuing us?" Claudia questioned as she leaned forward to narrow her eyes at the two.

"You know what, I prefer to be a prisoner in silence, if you don't mind," Keiro said with a shrug as he leaned back against the back of the wagon. He'd tried to put his hands behind his head, but Attia had pulled on his arm. "Sorry," he told her simply, having already forgotten they were chained together.

"You weren't planning on rescuing us, were you?" Finn asked as he stared from Keiro to Attia. Keiro had shut his eyes as he leaned his head back, but Attia simply diverted her eyes to the woman. "Were you?" Finn repeated more forcefully.

"Alright," Keiro groaned as he looked to Finn. "No. We didn't know you were here."

"Then what were you doing?" Finn asked. "You weren't just leaving, were you?" Silence followed as Keiro and Attia stared at each other. "You were just going to leave me? And you're Regent, Attia. You left my kingdom with Casper?"

"We thought you were dead, Finn," Attia finally explained as she sighed heavily and leaned back against the wall of the wagon.

"I can't believe you were leaving me," Finn commented as he shook his head but stared forward. The chains jingled as Claudia slipped her fingers into Finn's.

"Well, we didn't leave you," Keiro replied, but Finn groaned as he reached up to run his free hand through his hair. Claudia reached across her body to touch his shoulder, practically the only physical comfort she could provide in the situation. For a while, nobody said anything, but Keiro always had something to say. Turning to the woman, he flashed his smug smile and Attia rolled her eyes as she looked away from. "So Karen? How do you like being a traitorous bitch? Does it treat you well?"

Karen only narrowed her eyes at Keiro, her face contorting into a scowl. Keiro returned the look before he dropped his head back against the wooden wall. "We're never going to get out of this," Finn concluded with a heavy sigh.

"Maybe Casper will do something," Claudia said hopefully. Finn and Keiro scoffed at nearly the same time. "Does he know anything about what's happened?"

"I left him a letter," Attia admitted.

"I can't believe you," Finn scolded as he turned to her. "I pick you because Keiro and Casper would in a heartbeat leave. I thought you would stay."

Attia didn't reply right away since she could tell from Finn's tone of voice that he really was quite upset. She almost felt bad for abandoning the position he'd given to her. The guilt, of course, went away once Finn continued. "And you left with Keiro? Last time I saw you two, you almost killed him with your butter knife. You two just decided that my having gone missing was what your ridiculous relationship needed to get back on track? And what about Morgan? Please tell me you discarded the body well."

"I didn't kill her," Attia replied sharply, actually offended even though Claudia and Keiro had been able to tell Finn was kidding.

"What did you tell her?" Keiro asked curiously.

"What you never tell the girls you sleep with, Keiro. The truth. I don't understand why you can't just tell them upfront."

"Women don't have sex with men who don't like them at all when they know that," Keiro answered as he stared at her. "It's a little mean to say that to them, Attia. And what exactly is the truth, according to you?"

Attia narrowed her eyes at him, still feeling defensive from Finn's earlier comment. "That she was one of your mistresses and I am not." Claudia, Finn, and Keiro collectively laughed, all three thoroughly enjoying Attia's retelling of her encounter with Morgan.

"See? And you broke her heart, Attia," Keiro managed to say between his laughs. "That's just mean."

"What? Opposed to your leading her on?"

"Well, she didn't know until you told her."

"You kissed me, Keiro. She wouldn't have even known!"

"It's not my fault. It's habit after a year. I still sleep on one side of the bed. Do you know how uncomfortable that is?"

"You didn't mind the night before."

"Nothing is uncomfortable with a naked, willing, woman."

"You're a shit, Keiro."

"And yet you ran away with me."


	22. Chapter 22

"Come on!" The man's voice loud and harsh as he guided Attia and Keiro through the thick shrubbery of a forest. They'd leaned his name was Bryce from Finn and Claudia, who were walking behind him, guided by Wade. Karen followed last with Ronan, whose hands had been shackled together.

Keiro rolled his eyes at the man but kept moving forward anyway. As they reached a large fallen stump, the pair paused. "Keep going!"

"You're not chained to somebody!" Keiro yelled back at him as he turned to glare at the man. "It's a little difficult to climb like that, if you haven't noticed."

Bryce narrowed his eyes at Keiro for a moment before he reached to his back to retrieve his gun. "How do you feel about climbing now?" he asked as he pointed the barrel at Keiro. Groaning Keiro looked back at the fallen tree. Attia started to move their connected hands to the tree to brace themselves against it before they lifted their outer legs to the other side at the same time. Keiro touched down first and held out his free hand for Attia to help her to the ground gently.

"How touching," Bryce sneered as he landed on the ground beside Keiro as he helped Attia to the ground. Keiro glared at the man, but looked away when Attia tugged on his arm. As Finn and Claudia came over the tree as well, Finn touched Keiro's shoulder to nudge him on without stopping to murder the man who now held them captive. "I don't know how you've survived chained to a woman so long," Bryce commented as they continued down the path. "She'd either drive you crazy or…"Bryce trailed odd as he turned to look Attia. A smirk curled the corner of his lips as he let his eyes wander Attia's body up and down. "Drive you really crazy," he finished and looked to Keiro only to see the reaction. Keiro, however, had managed to keep as straight a face as possible as he took in a few deep breaths.

After a few more minutes, they stepped into a clearing where two tents were already constructed. The remnants of an older fire were between the two tents. "Chain them over there," Bryce instructed as he motioned over to one side of the clearing. It was Wade who took hold of Attia ad Claudia's arms to drag the two couples to the side of the clearing. Karen followed behind with Ronan. Wade bound Attia and Keiro's free hands together with rope before he undid the metal chains to finish tying all of their wrists so they were back to back and unable to use their hands at all. He did the same with Claudia and Finn before simply restraining Ronan's hands behind his back. Then he chained down the knots of the ropes to the ground so the two pairs and Ronan could not get up from the ground.

With a sigh, Attia leaned her head back at an angle to rest against Keiro's shoulder. "This was a terrible idea," she admitted, and could feel Keiro's body shake as he laughed. Nobody else said anything further but spent the next several minutes fidgeting until they found a comfortable enough position to remain in. Ronan, who wasn't quite as uncomfortable since he was alone, could see Attia and Keiro lace their fingers together once they'd stopped fidgeting. There was something about Keiro that he liked, and that was enough to feel comfortable with the fact that he and Attia were apparently together again.

"We have to do something," Finn said softly so as not to draw attention to them. He'd only spoken once he noticed Bryce and Karen had disappeared into one of the tents, leaving only Wade outside as he sharpened his knife.

"Do you know what they want?" Attia asked in response. "We never got a ransom. That's part of why I thought you were dead."

"I don't know," Finn answered, sounding surprised at what Attia had told them. "They never said."

"What happened?" Attia asked.

"Somebody threw a dagger in through the window and killed the Knight in front of me. And when we stopped there were tons of men who just attack us."

"Why was Ronan with you?" Keiro asked as he craned his neck to look over at Claudia. When he couldn't quite see, he tried the other side, only to groan and give up.

"We escaped the attack."

"You stayed at that cave, didn't you?" Attia asked with a groan.

"How'd you know?" Claudia asked, surprised.

"See? Morgan isn't completely useless. She told us about the cave." Keiro said.

"Then why isn't she the one tied to you instead of me?" Attia replied sharply, obviously annoyed at the mention of Morgan's name.

"She's not into that kind of stuff. You're a rare breed, Attia."

"I will kill you, Keiro," Attia threatened, though she had squeezed his fingers as she did so. "And that is my father, who can hear you, by the way."

Keiro only cleared his throat, suddenly thankful he could not see behind him. "I forgot," he admitted softly, but Attia only rolled her eyes. It wasn't as though she was terribly surprised anyway.

"What happened next, Finn?" Attia asked, still curious as to how her father wound up with Finn and Claudia.

"After the cave, we went to Primstone because it was the closest. But right when we got there, Bryce and Wade came out of nowhere and grabbed us all," Claudia explained. "We didn't know where else to go."

"We waited for you to go to Primstone, but never got word that you got there. And by the time we found the cave it had rained," Attia explained. "And I never thought to send word to you," she added as she looked to her father.

"It's fine, darling," Ronan replied with a smile despite the fact they were all captive.

"What happened to Claire?"

"She went to see her family after you left with Keiro," Ronan answered. "I imagine she'd back now trying to find me."

"Exactly how smart is this girl of yours?" Keiro asked curiously.

"She probably won't be able to find us, if that's what you're asking," Ronan replied, only to be met by Keiro's groan. "Not everyone has such a capable romantic partner as you."

"Well, if she could pull cons with you, then I assumed she could do something a little more beneficial," Keiro answered as he leaned his head back against Attia.

What felt like hours passed by before Bryce ever approached the five with a single plate of food in his hand. "Any votes for who gets food?" he asked curiously as he looked at Claudia first then Attia. Finn and Keiro were tied behind them respectively. "What about you?" he questioned as he crouched down beside Attia. With his free hand, he grabbed her chin and forced her to look up at him. When she spat into his face, he bellowed before he struck her across the face with the back of his hand. Keiro had tried to move but the restraints had made any attempts futile.

"Fuck you," Keiro sneered as he turned his head as much as he could to glare at the man. When he felt Attia's fingers pinching his hand as hard as she could, he groaned and turned forward again. His annoyance and general discomfort did not go unnoticed by anybody. Although, perhaps only Claudia and Bryce were blissfully unaware that Keiro was mostly likely planning the most efficient and rewarding manner in which to murder the man. Such antics always put Finn into a difficult position while Attia was more often than not stuck in a moral dilemma Keiro simply did not understand in most cases.

Grinning, and having recovered from Keiro's outburst, Bryce pulled the knife from his pocket and carefully cut the rope that held only one of Attia's wrists in place. As she rotated her wrist and brought it in front of her, she peered up and met Bryce's stare. He shoved the plate of food into her lap before he moved to undo one of Claudia's restraints. At the same time, Wade had come with a second plate. "Nothing clever," Bryce warned as he narrowed his eyes first at Attia, then Claudia.

"What about us?" Finn protested as he tried at look as well but was unable to do so.

"You're just going to have to share," Bryce answered wickedly. He laughed to himself as he walked away, leaving Wade to babysit the captives. Keiro huffed as his hand settled into the empty space where Attia's hand had been previously. Attia and Claudia struggled to tear the food with only one hand, but Claudia was also troubled by how dirty her hands were. Attia did not have the same reservations.

"I'm hungry," Keiro commented after an amount of time had passed. He felt Attia's body shift behind him.

"It's hard with one hand, Keiro," Attia snapped back at him. "Just wait another minute."

"We should've eaten before we left."

"Or maybe you shouldn't have forced me into bed and we'd have had more energy."

"Don't make it sound like this my fault," Keiro replied, sounding as though he had an entire rant planned out. He didn't continue though since Attia held her arm back with a small piece of meat between her fingers. Keiro strained to reach her hand and Attia had adjusted the bend of her elbow until she felt Keiro's lips take the food from her.

"Happy?" Attia snapped as she rolled her eyes. She put a small piece into her mouth before she cut another and leaned over as far as she could to give it to her father.

"No," Keiro answered. "I'm tied up."

"We all are," Claudia chided and Attia laughed.

"Yeah, the complaining isn't going to change anything, Keiro," Finn agreed. Keiro said nothing in response, but Attia chuckled to herself, knowing he was probably sulking behind her. The five continued eating slowly in the same manner until they'd eventually cleaned the plates and Claudia and Attia's wrists were bound once more. The five could do nothing but listen as Bryce, Wade, and Karen sat around their fire carrying on conversation like nothing was amiss.

"So what do we think?" Karen finally asked before she eyed Claudia and Finn. It was difficult to tell exactly who her interest was in or if her interest was simply in the pair of them. It was only clear that Attia, Keiro, and Ronan meant little to their captors and were only there by mishap.

"Well," Bryce cleared his throat as he rose his eyebrow and stared over at the royal pair. He slowly turned his gaze back to Karen. "I was thinking we ransom them back one by one."

"What?" Karen replied quickly. The five had turned to watch the exchange, suddenly interested in the conversation of their fate. "Ransom them back? That isn't why we did this."

"I know," Bryce replied as he shrugged. "I know why you did this, but some things are more important."

"What is more important than my brother?"

"All the gold Court has," Bryce answered with a smug grin. He'd turned to Wade at the same time Karen had. The smaller man, however, seemed far more interested in his cut of meat than anything the other pair were arguing about.

"If we're going to kill them, we have to get rid of the bodies pretty well," Wade commented.

"We're not going to kill them," Bryce replied.

"Why not?"

"We can kill the old man if you really want to," Bryce answered, obviously annoyed. "By we're not going to kill the money pits, Karen."

"That was the point!"

"That was your point, and if you wanted to do that you should've hired somebody else," Bryce said as he looked away from Karen to eye what was left of his meal. After he'd finished he dropped the metal plate to the dirty ground before he rose to his feet. As he stretched his arms and back, Karen stood as well and moved to stand beside him.

"You can't just change the plan," Karen harped as she glared up at the man. She wasn't that short of a woman, easily taller than both Attia and Claudia, but Bryce was quite large. As he peered down at her, it was clear she had begun to grate on his nerves.

"Watch me," he told her harshly before he turned to Wade. "Tie her up with the old man."

"What?" Karen shrieked as she turned to Wade, who had hesitated for a moment. When Bryce shot him a look, he quickly rose from his seat and retrieved a piece of rope. Karen had fought in vain and eventually she was shoved to the ground under knife point and bound to Ronan's back.

"Bright girl, Claudia," Keiro said, sounding obnoxiously and sarcastically cheerful. "Good choice for your household."

"Shut up," Claudia snapped.

"You had sex with her," Attia pointed out.

"Briefly."

"That counts," Attia responded.

"My having sex with her isn't related to our current position. Her being in Claudia's household is," Keiro pointed out.

"Stop arguing," Finn pleaded, obviously annoyed at Attia and Keiro's near constant bickering. They never ceased to amaze him. First, he had been incapable of accepting that they'd been carrying on a secret affair simply because they argued so often. Then when he'd thought they really were perfect together, they simply stopped being so. At the same time the arguing had stopped all together. When they did get back together the bickering picked up again like magic, and Finn had the hardest time trying to understand the dynamic of their relationship.

"I didn't start it," Keiro commented in the silence.

"You're such a child," Attia yelled back at him. As she struggled against the bonds, the rope cut into Keiro's wrists and he cried out when she'd begun to pull so tightly to cause him pain.

"That's not doing anything," Keiro snapped as he again tried to turn his head and look at her. She'd done the same, so they were at the least able to view each other out of the corner of their eyes.

"You're not doing anything," Attia accused.

"Fine," Keiro replied through gritted teeth as he began pulling on the ropes in his direction. Attia yelled when she felt the ropes dig into her skin. "Yeah? Doesn't feel good, does it?" Keiro said with a huff as he relaxed back against Attia's back.

"Are you done?" Finn said harshly, still annoyed by the pair. "If we're going to get out of here, when they go to sleep is the best chance."

"Really? Did you think of that all by yourself?" Keiro replied, but Finn never replied. In fact, nobody replied to Keiro, and surprisingly, that included Attia.

"We won't be able to break these ropes," Karen spoke up, her voice soft but still loud enough to carry to Keiro and Finn.

Attia had laughed drily as she rose and eyebrow and turned her head to the woman. "We?" Attia repeated, pulling Karen's attention to her. "What do you mean by 'we' exactly?"

"Well, us," Karen replied. It was Keiro's turn to laugh.

"You mean you won't be able to break the ropes," Attia clarified. "I suggest you think of another way to get out, then."

"Attia," Finn sighed heavily.

"No, we're leaving her here," Attia replied simply. Though she could not see Finn's face, she stared at Claudia. "It's her fault we're here at all, Finn. It's not our problem if she didn't pay the man enough to kill us. That sounds like a personal problem that we should not interfere with."

"We can't leave her," Claudia said with a sigh as well. Finn and Claudia always seemed to be the ones who found the delicate line between Attia and Keiro's somewhat extreme antics and the acceptable behavior of civilized people.

"Then you two can stick around with her," Attia replied.

"Attia, come on," Keiro said. She could feel his shaking his head.

"Keiro!" Attia scolded when she thought he'd also sided against her.

"You can do whatever you want with her, I don't care. But we can't leave Finn and Claudia," Keiro answered simply. Attia let out a huff of air as she relaxed against Keiro's back more completely. She wiggled her wrist in the bonds before she could slip her fingers into Keiro's.

"Ronan?" Claudia asked as she turned to him.

"I will remain without an opinion," Ronan answered. Attia had turned to glare at him, but he'd avoided her gaze as well as Claudia's.

"You'll have to trick them into letting us go," Karen put in, not quite sure of where she stood among her fellow captives.

"Why don't you do it," Attia snapped bitterly before she sighed heavily. She felt Keiro rub his thumb up and down the side of her hand. It was as much physical contact they could manage but even the small gesture made her feel slightly at ease. She assumed Finn and Claudia were also holding hands as best they could.

"Bryce likes you," Karen answered.

"That's not affection," Attia replied, the annoyance beginning to show through her tone of voice.

"She's right," Claudia pointed out.

"Oh come on," Attia groaned as she stared at Claudia.

"I think it would work," Finn said as he shrugged.

"Keiro?" Attia asked, her voice now breaking with hopelessness. He remained quiet for a while until he felt Attia beginning to pull on the bonds again as she tried to turn towards him more than the bonds would allow. "Damn it, you agree, don't you?"

"Sorry, love," Keiro said quickly, reverting to the nickname he'd called her months ago during the prime moment of their relationship.

"Oh don't try to sweet talk me. That's just pathetic."

"You can think of it as revenge for me and Morgan."

"If I wanted to retaliate in that way, I'd have gone with Mason, Keiro," Attia replied strongly. "Not the big, smelly, dirty, gun totting psycho."

"Mason?" Keiro repeated as he suddenly started to pull on the bonds as he tried to turn to Attia. "The Knight?"

"You really want to have this conversation?" Attia replied, remaining as clam as she could.

"I just didn't know you liked Knights," Keiro replied as he settled back into a comfortable position. Everyone could tell he was just trying to sound calm but was actually upset about the piece of information Attia had divulged.

"I didn't know you liked women like Morgan who have apparently misplaced their intelligence."


	23. Chapter 23

Perhaps a few more hours had passed before Bryce had reemerged from his tent appearing as though he'd been napping. At the sight of him, Attia pulled her fingers from Keiro's palms and curled her hands into fists. She felt Keiro's fingers trace her hands until he realized she would not intertwine their fingers again. When he'd withdrawn his fingers from her completely, she turned to the campsite and swallowed.

"Hey," Attia called out, hoping her voice would find its strength in the next few seconds. Bryce had turned at the call but did not move towards the prisoners. He narrowed his eyes at the six until he focused his gaze on Attia. She'd titled her head and rose an eyebrow at him before he took a few steps towards her.

"What?" Bryce snapped as he drew closer.

"You wouldn't happen to have a blanket or two, would you?" Attia replied. Keiro, Claudia, and Finn, at the very least, could detect the artificial girlish tone Attia had managed to interweave with her words.

"Not for you," Bryce laughed, feeling all too proud of himself as he stared down at her.

"For us, then?"

Bryce's laughter stopped immediately as he narrowed his eyes at Attia waiting to see any shift in her expression that might indicate a hidden agenda. Attia, however, held Bryce's gaze, her lips curling up into as seductive a smile as she could manage. Bryce cleared his throat as he crouched down beside Attia, his eyes still inspecting her. "What? And forget your little boyfriend here?"

"Well, he couldn't over power you, now could he?" Attia replied, her tone holding still to the point where everyone around her almost believed her. She could feel Keiro go rigid behind her, but he'd remain silent at the comment. She imagined he didn't like it very much but pushed the thought as far away as possible so as not to make herself laugh.

"So, you've come to your senses, have you?" Bryce replied as he produced his knife from the back of his pants. With his free hand, he held Attia's wrist up as he carefully cut the rope to release her. Reaching between Keiro and Attia, he released her other wrist.

"I suppose you could say that," Attia answered as she got to her feet. She took a few steps with Bryce towards his nearby tent, before he turned back to her, grinning wildly. He'd pulled her to him quickly, one arm moving around her back as he pressed their lips together hard.

Keiro let out a deep breath as he tried to turn away but found he could not for some unknown reason. Even as Attia had begun to kiss him back as he knew she had to in order to keep him from getting too suspicious too soon. Bryce had moved his feet, turning Attia away from the five still tied. As he did so, Attia's arms reached around his body, one hand pressing into his back where the knife was. Keiro, Claudia, Finn, and Ronan watched anxiously as her other hand slowly pulled the knife from the waist band of his pants. She held it there behind his back until he finally pulled from the kiss and began to turn towards the tent. Attia had quickly turned her back away from him as she slipped the knife into the space between her pants and belt.

"This is going to be so much fun," Attia commented as she followed him into the tent. Her four companions had heard the truth in her tone that time.

"How'd you like that, Keiro?" Claudia commented, watching as Keiro only shook his head. She imagined he was far too proud to admit how much he really hated the idea of Attia with another man. Within a few minutes, Attia emerged from the tent alone, blood on her arm and shirt though she had no open wound.

She quickly went to Keiro first, placing her free hand on his arm as she cut each of his bonds quickly. After releasing him, she moved to Claudia and Finn to do the same. She handed the knife off to Keiro, who released Ronan.

"Hey," Karen exclaimed as she stared at the five standing around her. "Cut me loose."

"No," Keiro answered as he held his hand out to Attia. She put her hand in his before he started to lead the way to the shrubbery of the forest. Ronan was only two steps behind them, but Claudia and Finn hadn't moved. "Come on," Keiro urged as he looked back at them. "This is all her fault, Finn."

"She wants to kill you, Finn," Attia pointed out.

"I know," Finn replied with a heavy sigh. As he turned to Claudia, they stared at each other, before he nodded slowly. Claudia nodded back before she bent down beside Karen to untie the ropes.

"Fine, but when she kills us all in our sleep, don't say we didn't warn you," Attia commented.

"She can't kill all of us. She'll kill the first and then the rest of us will wake up and she'll be dead," Keiro explained as he continued to lead the way out of the clearing. Attia and Ronan were right behind him, Finn and Claudia next, while Karen followed last. "She's just going to have to make that first person really count."

"Guess it sucks to be Finn," Attia commented.

"Ok, that is why you don't fit in at Court," Claudia exclaimed with a heavy sigh. "Normal people don't have conversations like that."

"I don't think they care," Finn said gently as he stepped over a fallen log. As Claudia stepped over it, he turned back to her and offered his hand.

"Where are we going?" Ronan asked.

"Away," Keiro answered simply as he paused before he made a turn. "We can figure out where we are in the morning."

"Unless that doesn't work, and we're just hopelessly lost," Karen commented.

"So, out of the six of us," Keiro replied as he stopped walk and turned around. "Guess who doesn't get an opinion about anything." He stared at Karen with narrowed eyes. She only held his gaze for a moment before she shifted her eyes to Attia. She stared just as intensely at Karen before the other woman lowered her eyes to the ground. "Good, glad we have an agreement," Keiro commented sarcastically before he turned back around and continued to lead the way.

"Why do you lead us when we're with the King?" Karen said as she continued to follow.

"Guess who also doesn't get to speak," Attia replied and Keiro only laughed. The continued to walk through the forest for at least an hour until Keiro paused. Attia stopped beside him and began to look around. Once everyone had stopped walking and trampling sticks and leaves on the ground, the sound of rushing water became clear.

"That way?" Keiro asked as he looked to the left.

"I think straight," Attia replied. Keiro only nodded before they continued straight. It was only a few minutes until they came to a large clearing. Passed the clearing, they found a lake. Attia sighed happily as she went to the edge of the lake and dipped her hands into the water.

"Finn and I are going to wash. You can go back to the clearing," Claudia declared but Attia huffed a she stood up and turned back to the royal couple.

"I'm washing first. I don't care if your royalty or not."

"Why do you get the lake first?" Finn replied as he stared at her, one eyebrow raised.

"I was molested by our captor."

"I think that wins," Keiro put in as he began to pull his shirt from his torso. He'd already tossed it to the side before he began walking to the lake. Claudia had turned to glare at Finn but he just stared down at her.

"What am I supposed to do?" he asked her as he sighed and turned back to walk to the clearing. "You can stand there and sulk all you want. Keiro is going to continue stripping whether we leave or not."

Groaning, Claudia reluctantly followed Finn to the clearing, slipping her fingers into his as she reached his side. Attia had turned back to the lake while Ronan and Karen had followed Finn and Claudia to the clearing. Keiro had quickly undressed and waded into the water. Once he reached the center of the lake, he turned back to find Attia slowly joining him.

When Attia and Keiro finally went back to the clearing, his arm was around her waist and both were laughing. They were on the very edge of the clearing when Keiro had stopped walking and turned to Attia. He'd bent down to press his lips against hers, his arm around her tightening as she reached up to touch his cheek and neck. After a few more seconds, Keiro pulled away before he followed Attia into the clearing.

"You didn't need to wash that long," Claudia commented as she turned to glare at the two.

"I know," Keiro replied as he tossed his shirt to a rock, opting to remain without it while it dried after Attia had washed it in the lake.

"You can't go a day, can you?" Claudia said as she and Finn stood up to head towards the lake next.

"I can go a day," Keiro replied as he sat down on one of the larger rocks. "You're the one who always assumes we're having sex."

"Still with my father, Keiro," Attia reminded him as she sat on a nearby rock.

"I didn't say anything embarrassing that time," he defended himself as he turned to her. Finn and Claudia had ignored them as they continued passed the clearing. Attia only laughed as she twisted her long hair until drops of water fell from the tips.

"What are we supposed to eat?" Karen asked from the other side of the clearing. Keiro and Attia peered up at her at the same time, both equally amazed at her complete lack of survival skills.

"Don't be too harsh on her," Ronan said as he laughed. "She's a Courtier. What do you expect?"

"It's unreal," Keiro muttered as he looked away from Karen to watch Attia. After wringing out her hair, she's run her hands through it to push all the stray hairs from her face. "You still have that knife?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied as she retrieved it from her side and passed it to Keiro. "I grabbed a couple from the tent, too."

"Of course you did," Keiro answered as he laughed. He didn't see her turn to watch him since he'd looked down to inspect the blade of the knife she'd handed him. Ronan, however, noticed every little thing between the two, amazed at how effortless his daughter was with Keiro.

"I think we could get a deer out here," Attia commented.

"We?" Keiro replied as he looked up at her. She smiled coyly as she turned away from him to look at one of the other knifes she collected from Bryce's tent.

"You and my father probably," she answered.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Keiro replied. Though his words had sounded rude, his tone was lighthearted and both smiled and laughed.

"I'll get firewood with Claudia when they get back."

"It'll probably be a while," Keiro answered as he looked up at her when she did the same. "It's been like four days for them."

"Yeah that's so terrible," Attia replied sarcastically as she rose an eyebrow at him. "Explains why you had a new girl in roughly thirty-six hours though."

"Hey," Keiro said sharply as he narrowed his eyes at her. "That's not the same."

"Isn't it?" she replied as she picked up a small rock and began to run it along the edge of one of the knives.

"Not exactly."

"Whatever," Attia replied as she rolled her eyes. She didn't feel like arguing with him about his last few months. By the time they had finished sharpening the knives, Finn and Claudia returned to the clearing, both smiling and holding hands. As they took their seats beside Keiro, Karen looked up hopefully at Ronan. With a sigh, he nodded and motioned for her to go to the lake next.

"Thank you," she said softly before she leapt to her feet.

"She doesn't deserve it," Keiro commented, and Karen had turned to look at him when she heard.

"She's a woman," Ronan replied after Karen had turned away and continued towards the edge of the clearing. "They're cranky if they're dirty."

"Yeah," Keiro agreed with a sharp laugh. Attia had turned to narrow her eyes at him. "What?" he replied as he noticed the stare. "Not you, obviously."

Finn and Claudia had laughed as Attia rolled her eyes and looked away from Keiro to focus on finishing up the blades that were already sharp. Even Ronan smiled out of amusement but the point seemed to pass Keiro by.

"Let's get firewood," Attia suggested as she looked up at Claudia. The Queen nodded as she rose to her feet and left behind her outer clothing on the rock beside Finn's. Claudia had turned to press her lips again Finn's but Attia had simply walked away from Keiro. When the two disappeared into the woods, Finn looked up at Keiro.

"So what happened?" Finn asked.

"With what?"

"You and Attia."

"She punched me in the face," Keiro replied.

"Is that what that is?" Finn asked as he laughed and narrowed his eyes at the barely there bruise on the left side of Keiro's face. "How hard did she hit you?"

"Pretty hard," Keiro admitted as he dropped his knife to the ground and looked up at Finn again.

"Any particular reason, or did she just feel like it?" Finn asked.

"I uh…" Keiro paused as he cleared his throat and shrugged. "You know… usual reasons."

"Well, no, since she's never punched you before. What reasons?" Finn pressed until eventually Keiro sighed heavily and looked up at Finn. "I accidentally may have told Morgan that I had… deep feelings… for her while Attia was in the room."

"You told Morgan you loved her?" Finn questioned.

"May have implied feelings, yes," Keiro corrected as he looked away.

"When Attia was watching you?"

"Eavesdropping."

"So at least you deserved it," Finn commented earning a stare from Keiro. Finn only shrugged as he stared back. "Can't say you didn't."

"I didn't mean to. It was accidental. It just slipped out."

"And then what happened?" Finn laughed.

"Attia… she ran out of Court and disappeared for twelve hours."

"Good job."

"It's not like you have the best relationship, Finn. Have you forgotten how you purposed the first time?"

"That is not the same," Finn replied as he rolled his eyes and looked away from Keiro. He'd noticed Ronan and suddenly realized how quiet Attia's father always was.

"Great, well, it's not like Attia is perfect either, so just…" Keiro trailed off as he shrugged.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure that one time Attia came back to your room late makes up for you sleeping around because you don't know how to express emotion."

"Lay off, Finn. God," Keiro groaned as he rolled his eyes. "It's Attia. She's not going to break down crying like… well like Morgan."


	24. Chapter 24

Casper stood, wide eyed as everyone spoke at him at the same time. It seemed everybody required his attention every moment of the day, but he only had so much energy to go around. He just swallowed as he hoped somebody would come to his rescue at any moment. When he heard the door to the office open, he looked up hopefully and smiled when he saw Anne step into the room. As he noticed the look across her face, he watched her curiously as his smile began to fade.

Once Anne's presence was better known, the several men in the room had begun to quiet and step to the side so Anne could approach Casper. Once she got close enough, he put his hands on her waist and bent down to press his lips to her cheek. Up close, he could tell her eyes were red from crying. She pushed herself up to her toes and Casper turned his head so that she could whisper in his ear.

"Rumors are I don't have much longer here," she told him softly so only he could hear. When he turned to look down at her, she knew he was unaware of what Council had been plotting. Of course, she knew only by accident. The other ladies of Court had been gossiping when Anne came to a corner and was able to overhear them.

"What?" Casper asked as he let out a breath.

"I love you," she said gently as she touched his face with one hand. He leaned into her palm before he bent down to kiss her.

"I'm going to find Finn," he promised but could see the doubt in Anne's eyes. "He's not dead, Anne," Casper said forcefully, and Anne knew he was just trying to convince himself.

"Attia and Keiro wouldn't have left if they believed he was alive," Anne reminded him. Once the search parties had come back without the two, Anne had lost all hope for finding them as well as Claudia and Finn.

"Then we'll find Attia and Keiro and drag them back kicking and screaming."

Anne was quiet as she held his gaze. He knew what she was thinking. He'd been told by everybody at Court what she was thinking, but he desperately hoped Anne would not tell him what everyone else did. He desperately hoped she was still on his side and believed what he wanted to believe. "If they don't want to be found, we'll never find them," Anne said, speaking the words Casper had dreaded.

"No," Casper replied loudly. He saw Anne flinch at his sudden jump in volume but he just ignored the response. "I don't need that from you too, Anne. They left me. And with what? A stupid letter? To find some girl who's probably already out of the Realm by now. They all left me and now you're telling me to just give up? What am I supposed to do?"

"Casper," Anne said desperately as she tried to put her hands on his chest. Casper had turned away from her though. Anne could feel the tears stinging her eyes, but she hoped nobody could see them as she stepped forward slowly to approach Casper again. She'd never seen him so angry and combined with the plots against them as well as the pressure from her family, she was beginning to break as well. When she put her hands on his back, she could feel his heart racing. Slowly she let her hands roam to each side until she wrapped her arms around him from behind. After a few moments, Casper reached behind him with one arm to pull her to the front. He wrapped both arms around her but kept his head up, his gaze staring forward at nothing in particular.

"I believe you'll find your place, Casper," Anne said softly before she turned to peer up at him. He pressed his lips against her forehead before he released her from his grasp. Anne stepped away from him slowly before she peered around at all the men of Court who'd watched them with far too much interest. As she began to walk towards the door, she eyed Charles who nodded at her once. Since Attia and Keiro's departure from Court, nobody called her Lady Anne except Charles. She had reverted to Mistress Anne literally overnight. Though Casper was not blind to the change, she feared he refused to see her impending removal from Court.

After she left the room, it took only a matter of minutes for everyone to begin demanding Casper's attention once more. As quickly as his sanity had returned for the short moment Anne was with him, it had gone as well.

"Do whatever you want," Casper finally declared loudly as he groaned and turned to go towards the door. He held Charles' gaze as he passed the threshold of the office. He was well aware any number of the men would follow him, refusing to leave him be for longer than three seconds. Once he'd stepped out of the office, however, Charles had blocked the path, allowing the Prince to hurry down a few hallways uninterrupted. Both knew that if Casper made the most of his few minutes he'd have at least an hour before all of Court hunted him down again.

Hours later, Casper stood in the small library of Court Claudia had insisted be put in. Most of the shelves held books on healing but there were a few sections that had books on other topics. Mostly only the Healers used the library for reference for not many others at Court enjoyed reading and learning the way their Queen did. Nobody had bothered Casper there simply because in the two hours he'd spent hiding away there, only three people had seen him. The two healers had only smiled at him knowing exactly what he was doing. Neither said anything but nodded to him respectfully, implying they would not give away his location. The third was the librarian's assistant whom Casper had scared into not saying a word. So when Casper heard a pair of footsteps nearing the shelves he was hiding behind, he turned to see who they belonged to. A loud sigh passed his lips when he recognized Anne and Charles' faces.

"The library?" Anne asked with a smile as she stepped towards him. Casper smiled back for the second time that day as he held out his hand for her. After placing her hand in his, she approached him and pushed herself up to kiss him softly.

"What better place?" he replied and she laughed. "What are you doing here? And what are you doing together?" he asked as he held Anne's stare then turned up to Charles. Casper trusted Charles with his life. For one, Finn trust Charles with Claudia's life and that was more powerful than most cared to admit. Second, Charles was undoubtedly one of Attia's close friends. For some reason, Casper wanted to believe that if somebody had cared for Attia the way Charles did, they should care for him as well. He desperately wanted to believe that Charles would protect him if nobody else would. He wanted to believe Charles would protect Anne when he himself could not.

"Council is deliberating again," Charles explained.

"About what?" Casper asked with a sigh. Though he was Regent, he didn't have command of Council the way Attia did. The men of Council were terrified of Attia. One morning they could be perfectly secure in their jobs because Finn listened to all of their opinions and indulged a good majority of them. The next, however, they could all be without titles if they'd so much as breathed on Attia the wrong way when she was Regent for those three short days. Casper? The men of Council laughed at the idea of Casper ruling the Kingdom the way his mother had. Or even the way Finn had.

"I don't know for certain," Charles admitted. "They had me removed from the room."

"But kept the other guards?"

"Yes," Charles answered with a nod.

Casper sighed again as he leaned back against the wall. "Why? What are they doing?"

"Casper, you know what they're doing," Anne replied as she tried to put an arm around him. "You just won't admit it. They have no intention of letting you rule. You will be King in name and that's it. They're taking over and the first thing they'll do is get rid of me."

"You don't know that," Casper replied strongly as he stared down at her. She sighed as she looked down to the ground. She wanted Casper to see what so clear, but she knew there was no way for him to see something he desperately didn't want to.

"I took some gold from your room," Anne replied, opting not to argue with him. "And I sold a lot of my jewelry."

"Why?"

"Casper, please," Anne pleaded as she held his gaze. "I hid all the money into my sister's and my mother's things so that when we leave we'll have a little bit to keep us going."

"You're not leaving, Anne. You were attacked, and we still don't know why."

"And we probably never will, Casper. It has something to do with Finn and Claudia and you know it. Council might even have done for all we know. Everybody is plotting Casper and you just refuse to see it. Council is plotting against you and against me. Attia and Keiro plotted together. There's no way around it anymore, Casper."

"Do you think Finn is alive?" Casper asked suddenly. If he believed anything Anne had said to him, he didn't want to talk about it at all. Anne didn't answer, but instead stared up at him with a look in her eye he wasn't accustomed to seeing directed at him. "Do you think Finn is alive?"

"I don't think it matters anymore," Anne answered truthfully. "He might not be, in which case you're wasting time wondering. He still might be alive, but Council isn't going to waste resources looking for him. They're in control now with you as Regent and Attia and Keiro leaving basically proved to them that Finn is dead."

"We'd just have to find him, Anne. Council likes Finn."

"Doesn't matter anymore, Casper," Anne replied breathlessly. Even Casper could see Anne's patience was wearing thin. "Finn is gone now. Unless he gets back by himself without any of our help, there's no chance for him to regain his position. He's not at our mercy, Casper. We're at his and we have no idea where is his or if he's even alive. We don't know where Attia and Keiro went and we don't know if Finn or Claudia are hurt or anything. All we have is Karen Harrow's name, but that's a lost cause."

"You're giving up, then?"

"What would you have me do, Casper?" Anne replied.

"I'm sorry," Casper answered but she narrowed her eyes at him in confusion.

"For what?"

"I know you wanted a simple life," he said as he touched her cheek and bent down to press their foreheads together. "And no matter what happened, I was never going to be able to give that to you, was I?"

"I knew that from the beginning, Casper. You never promised me a simple life," Anne reminded him before she pressed their lips together in a soft chaste kiss. A moment passed before Casper kissed her again. When she responded to the second kiss, Casper firmly wrapped an arm around her, turning his body so that she was against the wall.

Charles had stepped away from the pair but neither noticed as they continued kissing. Anne's hands had gone up to Casper's cheek and neck while Casper's free hand trailed up and down her side. When he parted from her lips, he trailed kisses across her cheek and down to her neck, words passing his lips between each kiss. "Will you stay with me tonight?"

"Yes," Anne answered breathlessly, her fingers tangling in his hair, desperate for as much contact with Casper she could possibly have.


	25. Chapter 25

The next morning, Anne laid against Casper's body, the sheets tangled between their legs and around their bodies. Casper's arm was around her waist but he was still asleep. Smiling, Anne simply watched him. In the last two days he'd been Regent, his face had become so tense and contorted from the pressure. Sleeping, however, Anne found he looked peaceful. In her heart of hearts, she knew they would not last. She must've always known that. Princess was never something she'd aspired to be like most other girls. She was a farmer's daughter, set to marry a farmer's son. The Prince's mistress was as high a place she could reach and now it seemed that had run its course as well.

That, by no means, meant she loved Casper any less. From the moment Casper had won her heart, she feared she would never have it for herself again. Now that she laid in his arms, probably days away from never seeing him again, she knew that was how it was to happen. She would forever be in love with the only man she could never have. Willing her emotions not to get the best of her, she curled up against Casper, her arm reaching across his body.

Once Casper had awoken as well, he peered down at her, a smile pulling at his lips. Anne had leaned up to accept his morning kisses but was surprised when he had kissed her more deeply than expected. Of course, she returned the affection but pulled back from him instantly when she heard the door to his room slam open. Holding the sheets up to her body, she stared in shock at the two Councilmen and two Knights who'd let themselves into the room.

"What are you doing?" Casper demanded as he sat up, the sheets falling from his chest to his waist. "Get out of my room!"

"Mistress Anne of Lancaster, you're under arrest for treason," one of the Councilmen declared simply.

"What?" Anne replied breathless, her arms still holding the sheets to her body. "No! I didn't do anything! Casper, no," Anne pleaded as she turned to him, one hand reaching to intertwine their fingers.

"Don't be ridiculous," Casper chided as he narrowed his eyes at the four. "You are not arresting her for anything. What possible charges could you have concocted already?"

"It is treason to impersonate a person of nobility," the councilmen replied.

"No," Anne breathed out as she continued to shake her head. "Charles?" she asked as she turned to him on the far side of the Councilmen. She'd expected to be removed from Court, but not quite so dramatically, nor so soon.

"I'm sorry," Charles replied, genuinely sympatric and apologetic. "There's nothing I can do, Anne."

"You may leave Court with your family immediately or face the consequences," the councilmen declared. Anne shut her eyes tightly, pushing a tear from her eyes before she turned to Casper.

"Get out," Casper said softer than before. He put an arm around Anne as she pressed herself against him. He could already feel the tears falling onto his skin.

"She'd not to be left alone at any time," the councilmen replied.

"Then wait outside," Casper said with a sigh before he turned to Anne. He pressed his lips to her forehead as he stroked her back. The councilmen may have wanted to argue, but Charles and the other Knight had already retreated from the room. After they'd all gone, Anne pulled back from Casper and he could see all the tears that had fallen down her face.

"Now do you believe me?"

"Yes," Casper answered hopelessly before he kissed her. He wiped away her tears before he threw back the covers to begin retrieving their clothes. When he looked back at her, she'd managed to stop crying but he could see the devastation as clear in her face as she could see it in his. "How much gold did you take?" he asked after he'd pulled on his pants and began to move to the other side of the room. He didn't notice how badly Anne wanted him to return to her for whatever little time they had left together.

"Enough," she answered softly as she slipped her dress on and sat on the edge of his bed. "Enough to buy horses in the village to get back home and maybe some food when we get there."

"Here," Casper said after he'd rifled through his desk to retrieve more gold coins she'd been unaware he had. Rather than argue with him anymore, she held out her hand and let him drop the coins into her palm. After she put them into her pocket, he pulled her to her and pressed their lips together , desperate to make time pass slower than it did. Neither were aware of how much time had actually passed but both heard the unmistakable sound of the door clicking as it opened.

"You don't want to give Council a reason to call in the rest of the Royal Guard, Your Grace," Charles warned in as gentle a tone as a warning could be in. Casper pulled from Anne reluctantly, their foreheads still together.

"Is my family ready?" Anne asked, willing her voice not to break.

"Yes," Charles answered. "I've arranged for transportation to the nearest village and for three horses for you to take once you get there."

"You didn't have to do that," Anne said softly as she pulled away from Casper to look to Charles. The Knight saw their hands were still joined by the fingertips.

"Of course I did," Charles replied with a smile. Anne returned the smile before she stepped towards the door, Casper following behind her slowly. Casper and Anne walked beside each other to the main gate of Court where Anne's parents, her sister, and Bradley were already waiting, the four more confused now than they had been when they'd arrived. Casper had no idea how Anne would explain to them what had happened. Before the pair reached them, Anne stopped walking and looked up at Casper.

"Please don't blame yourself, Casper," she pleaded as she pushed herself up to her toes and pressed their lips together. She felt his hands resting on her waist, his fingers digging into her flesh so as to keep a hold on her even as she pulled away and tried to step back.

"Wait," Casper said before she could get too far. Both saw the two Royal Guardsmen approaching her family who were probably the men Charles had chosen to escort them. "I have something for you," he said softly as he reached into his pocket. She stepped towards him when she saw the small black box he'd retrieved. Before she said anything, he opened it and pinched the diamond ring between two fingers to pull it from its resting place.

"Casper," Anne started but said nothing further when Casper looked up at her. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Charles take a few steps away at the sight of the ring.

"Just take it, Anne," Casper replied, his voice so broken that she hadn't the heart to decline it. "It'll just drive me crazy if I keep it." That much, she knew was true. "I don't care what you do with it," he added as he held the ring out to her. When she met his gaze, she knew how much the ring had meant to him. She could almost see the unasked question that inevitably went with a diamond ring haunting him. No matter how badly she may have wanted to hear it, and no matter how desperately he wanted to ask it, both knew it wouldn't be in their future anymore.

"I love you," Anne said softly as she took the ring from his fingers and slipped it onto the ring finger of her left hand.

"You don't have to do that," Casper replied before he swallowed. His eyes were glued to the sight of Anne's hand wearing his ring. Only when she lifted the hand to touch his cheek and redirect his gaze to her eyes, did he managed to look away.

"Of course I do," she replied. She pressed her lips to his cheek and walked away before he could say anything in a vain attempt to guilt her into staying. She kept her gaze forward on her watching family, knowing that looking back, even for a second would destroy any strong will she had. It would destroy any weak will she had. Casper didn't turn to watch her either, his gaze fixed on the spot she stood just seconds ago.

"I'm sorry," Charles said after a long moment of silence. "I had no idea that-"

"Nobody did," Casper said before Charles could finish. By the time Casper turned to look to Anne, she was already on a horse by herself while one of the Guardsmen helped her sister secure the rest of her things onto the saddle of the horse she shared with Bradley. Within minutes, they rode away, but Charles did nothing to make Casper move from where he stood.

"How long have you had that ring?" Charles finally asked once the group was already a distance away.

"Months," Casper admitted as he turned away from the horses to meet Charles' gaze. "I wanted it to be perfect. I meant to ask after the wedding."

"Which one?"

"Both," Casper answered as he laughed at himself. "I tried to ask after Finn and Claudia's but I… I freaked out. And I never got a chance after her sister's wedding."

"I was married twice you know," Charles said as he touched Casper on the shoulder.

"How did you ask?"

"With my second wife, I planned it all out. Dinner with candles and musicians," Charles recalled, but even in his grief-riddled state, Casper could see some bitterness already beginning to form in Charles' gaze.

"What happened?"

"She said yes," Charles replied. "So I guess, not that well."

Casper couldn't stop the laugh that passed his lips. "Why did you marry her, then?"

"My mother wanted grandchildren so badly that she hounded me to get married," Charles explained, for the first time sounding like an actual human to Casper rather than the larger-than-life Commander who saved everybody's life on a daily basis.

"Didn't have kids with the first wife?"

Charles smiled as the Prince turned to look at him. "No, with my first wife, it was completely different."

"What happened with her?"

"She wasn't like any other girl. She was stubborn and impatient. She was always right. Even when she was wrong, I was even more wrong than she was. She knew what you were thinking before you did. She was perfect," Charles said as he turned to look at the disappearing spot that was Anne and her family. "We were seventeen. She grew up down the road from me. I used to throw mud at her in her best dress and she chased me and we fell into this stream in the spring when it flooded every year. The entire town had to come save us," Charles had rambled, his eyes still fixed on the where the road curved out of sight but Casper had a feeling he wasn't really looking at anything. "Anyway when we were seventeen, I joined the Royal Guards and back then, this was years ago when your step father was King, they held a huge celebration for the new guardsmen as they leave for training, so I'm with fifty other guys and she comes running into the procession, demanding that I marry her before I leave."

"She didn't," Casper replied and Charles turned to him finally. Casper couldn't actually think of a time he'd ever seen Charles smiling and laughing so genuinely.

"She threatened that if I left town not as her husband she would marry the first guy who talked to her. So we married right there in the middle of the parade and I didn't even have a ring or anything."

"What happened to her?"

"I left for training and got hurt two weeks in. The Commander of the Royal Guard then sent me home saying I could come back for the next cycle of training. When I got back, she moved in with me and my parents and she got pregnant really quickly. We were married for a year when she went into labor but uh… With Protocol, we didn't have what she needed to survive."

"I'm sorry," Casper replied, but Charles only shook his head.

"The point is that it doesn't matter how you tell her that she's the one you want to be with. If you're right and she's really the one you want, she won't care how you tell her. And she might beat you to it if she thinks you're sitting around twiddling your thumbs or something."

Both men laughed before Casper turned back to Court. Charles followed beside him. "She sounds like Attia, you know," Casper commented. Charles didn't respond, but when Casper looked too him, he saw the Commander nodding to himself.

"Maybe that's why I like her so much."

"What was her name?"

"Evelyn," Charles answered. Of all the years Casper had known Charles, he'd never heard the man say anything the way he said that name. "I named the baby girl Lily."

The silence that followed pounded on Casper until he finally asked another question, hoping he hadn't started to annoy the other man. "How did you keep going without her?"

"You won't have to find out, Casper," Charles replied as he turned and looked at the royal. "One way or another, I have a feeling you're going to get Anne back."


	26. Chapter 26

Still in the clearing they'd found, Keiro and Attia sat together as they shared a piece of meat taken from the deer Keiro and Ronan had managed to trap. Claudia and Finn were to their left, while Ronan was to their right. Karen was slowly picking at the cooked meat with a contorted look on her face, but nobody even bothered to speak to her. Keiro had made it perfectly clear how little he cared for the annoying complaining woman.

"It's so dry," Claudia commented and Keiro rolled his eyes before he took another bite.

"Yeah, the store was out of sauce. We'll try again tomorrow," he commented sarcastically, earning a hit from Attia. She didn't verbally reprimand him, but he got the point when Claudia and Finn glared at him.

"Just don't cook it for so long," Claudia commented.

"Don't build the fire so hot," Keiro replied.

"Do you know where the nearest town is?" Karen asked before Claudia could respond. She peered up at Keiro and watched him for a moment before her gaze shifted to Finn. Her eyes had skipped right over Claudia.

"Yes," Keiro answered eventually then turned away from the woman to focus on finishing up the meat. Karen stared at him, obvious expecting him to say more on the subject.

"Where?" she finally asked and he peered up at her slowly. With a sigh and shrug, his lift his free hand and pointed in any random direction before he returned his attention to his food. "That's the direction we came in from where they were holding us."

"Oh," Keiro replied as he narrowed his eyes and turned his hand to motion in the other direction. "That way, then." Finn, Claudia, and Ronan had collectively laughed, but Karen stared at him with narrowed eyes. Of course, Keiro had hardly noticed anyway.

"I can't believe we're just wandering through the forest and we don't even know where we are!" Karen ranted as she redirected her glare from Keiro to Finn every so often. "Did you even have a plan at all?"

"Yeah, to get away from your friends," Keiro replied before he turned back to Attia and took the large piece of meat from her hand. As he started to bite into the piece to tear a piece off, Karen glared at him.

"I can't believe we ran off without even knowing where we were going. How can you just run into the forest and not know where you're going. That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever-"

"Shut up," Keiro snapped at her as he shoved the slab of meat into Attia's hand. Eyes wide, he stared around at the tree line of the clearing until his eyes focused on Finn.

"I heard it too," Finn said quickly as he rose to his feet and pulled Claudia to the center of the clearing. Keiro had reached into his boot to retrieve a knife and handed it off to Attia. Ronan produced his own weapon as he pulled Karen towards Claudia while Finn grabbed a knife for himself and handed one to Attia.

"I count three," Keiro said in a breath as he continued to look around for any sign of who or what essentially had them surrounded.

"I counted four," Attia replied as she tightened her grip on the handle of her knife.

"I don't know," Finn admitted, his own eyes scanning the tree line for any movement. Before the first figure passed the tree line and stepped into the clearing, the agonizing seconds of waiting seemed to last forever to the six.

The man was closest to Attia, but Keiro had quickly pulled on her arm to place himself between them. Though he'd removed Attia from immediate danger, two more figures quickly emerged from the trees. Ronan and Finn had approached the two as the first man had swung forward at Keiro, a knife in hand. Keiro blocked the man's arm before he tried to strike at him with his own weapon.

Claudia and Karen watched helplessly, neither quite sure of what else to do. Finn had surprisingly disarmed the man nearest to him rather quickly. He stepped over the man's knife and kicked it behind him without lowering his weapon or breaking eye contact. Ronan, who was significantly older than his five companions as well as their attackers, was only slightly slower. That lag in his reaction, however, opened the left side of his body to his attacker. It was Attia who'd thrown her knife at the man's shoulder before he'd been able to stab forward at her father.

When the man fell to the ground, Attia had stepped forward while Ronan took a step back. It seemed a year away from Incarceron had affected him more than he expected. Attia, now unarmed, was taken by surprise when a fourth figure had stepped into the clearing beside her. Before she'd been able to retrieve her weapon, the man's arm wrapped around her and pulled her back to him. She recognized him as Bryce right away. When Ronan had stepped towards the man who'd attacked him, Bryce pulled his small gun from the small of his back and pointed it at Ronan.

When Keiro had glanced over his should, he saw the development, and it had been enough to distract him for a second. In that small amount of time, the man in front of him had swung his knife and left a long but shallow gash across Keiro's arm and shoulder. The knife fell from his hand when his arm twitched from the wound. In a matter of seconds, the attacker had Keiro weaponless and at his mercy. One hand clasped over his wound in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. The distraction spread to Finn who had just as quickly lost power as he'd gained it.

Claudia avoided Finn and Keiro's faces, opting to stare at Bryce as he turned the gun to her and Karen. She knew herself well enough to know that seeing defeat on Finn and Keiro's face would shatter what little was left of her confidence as well.

"Move over there," Bryce directed as he waved the gun to one end of the clearing. At the same time, the two other men were binding Keiro and Finn's hands. The one with Finn had forced him to his feet before dragging him closer to Keiro and his captor. After leaving Finn there, the man went to the two women and Ronan to bind their hands as well. "Thought you could play me?" he questioned as he turned his face to Attia, his mouth centimeters from her face.

Attia tried to pull away from him but stop pulling against him when he forcefully grabbed her face to point his gun into the bottom of her chin. Keiro watched the interaction closely, not really sure how much he could stand to watch. He was vaguely aware of Finn fidgeting beside him but didn't care enough to turn to him. Finn might have very well been formulating his own escape plan, and Keiro wouldn't even have known.

Bryce grinned down at Attia until he pulled the gun from her and returned it to the small of his back. Keeping his grip on her, he turned to his two companions. "Check them for weapons," he ordered, his eyes scanning over Ronan and the women. When his eyes skipped to Finn and Keiro on the other side of the clearing, he began to grin, his eyes locking with Keiro. There was a slim chance she would succeed, but Attia took the opportunity anyway just like Keiro had predicted. She would never be the woman to give up. Keiro had blind faith Attia would fight back until she couldn't move and then some.

With one arm, she pushed Bryce's away from her, momentarily freeing herself from his grasp. He turned back to her immediately, his arm swinging, but she'd blocked the attack with her right arm. Keiro knew the spot would bruise. She'd quickly countered with an attack of her own, but she was significantly smaller and lighter than Bryce. He'd taken hold of her outstretched arm before striking her across the face with the back of his other hand. The momentum had pushed Attia away from me, but he kept hold of her arm, violently pulling her back to him.

Finn visibly saw Keiro's entire body go rigid as he swallowed hard. The King had no idea what it would be like to watch anybody treat Claudia so violently, but Finn knew the dynamic of Keiro and Attia's relationship was dramatically different from his and Claudia's. Keiro knew Attia could protect herself for the most part, but had to assume he was conflicted in letting her do so. Of course, he certainly had no choice in the matter currently.

When Bryce's hand wrapped around Attia's neck and pressed her against the largest rock formation, Keiro turned away to stare across the clearing at Ronan and the women. Finn noticed Keiro's chest rose and fell dramatically faster than it probably should have. When Finn looked across the clearing, he met Claudia's gaze for only a moment before he turned to Ronan. Unlike Keiro, Ronan's eyes remained glued to Attia and Bryce.

After Keiro seemed to get control of his emotions, he began to look around. When he met the stare of the man standing behind him and Finn, the man had attempted to strike him. Keiro quickly dodged the attack, but the man had stumbled over and fell onto Finn, the two men stumbling as Keiro looked to Ronan and the women.

"Get the gun, Attia," Keiro called out without looking back to her. He had kicked the man off of Finn before realizing Finn had cut his ropes with the man's knife. Turning his back to Finn, Keiro let him cut the ropes around his wrist. When he looked to Attia, he found Bryce had replaced his hand to Attia' throat, her hands pulling at the man's large hand, desperate for breath. Keiro glanced around quickly for any weapon until Finn handed him a knife. Keiro, however, couldn't go to Attia's aid when the second man had come charging at him. Finn had quickly scrambled away to until Claudia, Karen, and Ronan while Keiro was engaged in another fight.

"Get the gun!" he yelled again as he tried to subdue the man attacking him. Bryce basically ignored the development behind him, and when the sound of fabric ripping filled the air, Keiro had looked to Attia and Bryce immediately. He'd cut open the front of her shirt, his hands reaching to touch her bare skin. If Attia had a chance at all to fight back, it was then. Bryce was neither holding a weapon to her nor effectively holding her as his captive. But Keiro knew Attia had no chance of fighting back now that the man's hands were on her. Keiro quickly killed the man he fought with before he ran towards Bryce and managed to slash his back. Crying out, Bryce stepped back from Attia just enough for Keiro to pull her towards him. With one arm, Keiro pushed Attia behind him, fully aware she would not be capable of helping him should he crumble under Bryce's force.

Bryce only laughed as he produced his gun and pointed it at Keiro, but Keiro had no intention of stepping back. He could feel Attia's hand gently pressed against his back. He could even feel her tremble. In half a second, Keiro had lunged forward one arm going to Bryce's outstretched one. By the time he'd reacted and pulled the trigger, Keiro had redirected his arm enough so that the bullet missed him and Attia. Without second thinking himself at all, Keiro's knife sliced through the flesh of Bryce's neck. For good measure, Keiro had stabbed the man in the heart as well.

He was only vaguely aware that Claudia and Karen were watching and had never been subjected to the horrors of Incarceron. If they'd responded to the killing at all, he didn't notice or care. Quickly, Keiro let the body drop to the ground, knife and all, before he turned back to Attia. She'd tried to close the front of her shirt, but Keiro had blocked her from the four on the other side of the clearing once he reached her.

"I just froze," Attia said softly, but her voice carried in the quiet.

"I know. It's ok," Keiro replied quickly as he turned her towards the trees and walked with her out of the clearing. The two disappeared from the clearing before anybody could even respond to the scene that had just played out.


	27. Chapter 27

**Thoughts?**

* * *

><p>Nobody said anything about Attia when they'd returned to the clearing perhaps a few hours later, though it was clear that at least Finn and Ronan had questions. Neither had known Attia to be the kind to freeze in that type of situation. When they stepped into the clearing, Attia wore a large, loosing fitting shirt while Keiro went without his undershirt.<p>

In the time they'd been gone, Claudia had built up the fire in the center of the clearing. Keiro assumed Finn and Ronan had caught another deer since the two were cooking meat over the fire. Ronan had turned to look up at Attia, but said nothing as she sat between Keiro and Finn around the fire. He did notice that Attia did not let go of Keiro's hand and that Keiro had begun to help cook the meat using his weaker left hand rather than taking his right back from Attia.

"We'll stay tonight and move tomorrow," Keiro declared simply. He'd noticed the bodies had been removed but didn't care enough to ask what Ronan and Finn had done with them. Judging from the pile of knives and the gun beside it, he guessed they'd used their better judgment and searched them before getting rid of them.

"Alright," Finn agreed. "We can head south to get back to the road you found us on."

"We'll see," Keiro answered, his voice colder and more distant than Finn was accustomed to. Finn knew something had happened between Keiro and Attia and that it was connected somehow to the attack, but Finn hadn't a single clue as to what it was. He could think of nothing that would make Attia freeze the way she did. Of course, the near possibility of rape was daunting to say the least to any woman but surely Attia was more capable of handling such a situation than either Claudia or Karen would be.

The meat was cooked and distributed without Attia ever saying anything. When Keiro moved, she moved, and the two rarely let go of each other hands. Whether anybody else noticed, Ronan was unsure. By the time the sun had gone down, the fire had started to die. Finn and Claudia had managed to find a soft patch of grass to lay on near one end of the clearing. Ronan and Karen found separate places to sleep for the night while Keiro and Attia picked a spot a ways away from the others. Everyone noticed Keiro slip a knife into the strap of his boot while handing one to Attia. She'd done the same with her before the two had gone to their spot for the night.

Hours passed as the night went on. Attia had eventually fallen asleep laying on her side, her back to Keiro. He was on his side as well, one hand on her waist as he slept as well. When Attia had sat up unexpectedly, a loud gasp passing her lips, Keiro had awoken instantly. She was breathing heavily, breaths passing her lips in quick succession.

"You're ok," Keiro assured her in a soft whisper so as not to awaken anybody else in the clearing. He sat up behind her, his hands resting on her waist until he wrapped his arms fully around her. "It's alright," he told her as he gently pressed his lips to her cheek.

"It felt so real," Attia replied, her voice not as low as Keiro's. He doubted she even noticed that the others could wake at any moment. "Everything. All of it feels real again. Everything before you and Finn is real again, Keiro."

"I know," Keiro answered softly, unsure of what else he could say. He felt Attia lean back into him as he tightened his arms around her.

"I was so good at pretending it wasn't there."

"Pretending only goes so far. Even out here," Keiro answered, speaking on his own experience. He tried to press his lips to her cheek again, but she'd turned at the last second to press their lips together. Since she'd responded to the kiss, he held it. He hadn't expected her to be affectionate at all after what had happened but was pleasantly surprised that she turned her body to face him. "You don't… have to do this, you know," he told her between kisses as she pushed him back to the ground, careful not to let their lips part for longer than a few seconds.

"I know," Attia replied as she rolled to lay above him. She knew the ground couldn't be the most comfortable place for him but was willing to bet he'd endure through it all the same. Their kissing continued until Keiro rolled them over just to get her to part their lips.

"Why?" he questioned as he looked down at her. "After-"

"Because," Attia replied before he could continue. He took the hint that she didn't want to hear the words at all even from him. "Because none of it is real when I'm with you," she answered eventually. "Everything is different. It feels different. It feels… it feels good. And you're… you're gentle."

"I'm gentle?" Keiro repeated, obviously not used to hearing himself described that way.

"In comparison," she added, managing a smile. When he smiled back, he pressed their lips together again. The kiss continued as she ran her hands down his body, earning a groan as she paid more attention to his more sensitive areas. She pulled away to shush him, a grin pulling at her lips.

"It's not my fault," he replied in a hushed voice as he stared at her. She she'd started to laugh, it was his turn to quiet her. "You'd have to be quiet, you know."

"You'd have to be fast."

"I'm always fast."

"You're never fast."

"You're never quiet," he replied and she laughed again, stopping when he silenced her with a kiss.

"Want me to be quiet?" she replied in a playful tone.

"I want you to bite my earlobe," he answered. Their muffled laughs got louder until Keiro finally stood up and pulled her to her feet.

"Where are we going?" she questioned, but let him lead her towards the trees anyway.

"The lake," he answered as he turned back to her. He wrapped one arm around her waist before they stepped into the forest, neither even vaguely aware that Attia's sudden gasp had been enough to pull everyone from their shallow sleep since nobody had been comfortable enough to really sleep at all.

The next morning, Keiro and Attia were the last to wake. Everyone knew what had made the two comfortable enough to actually reach sleep, but nobody said anything about it. By the time they did wake, everyone had worked up an appetite. Claudia and Attia volunteered to go in search of firewood while Karen went to the lake to bathe. The men sat around the dead fire pit as they waited for Claudia and Attia to return. They did not want to leave the clearing empty before going in search of food.

It was uncomfortably silent, at least to Finn. If Keiro or Ronan noticed, Finn couldn't tell. Keiro's gaze was fixed on the ground as he pushed a small rock around. Ronan watched him intensely until Keiro groaned and stared up at him finally. "What?" he snapped.

"What?" Ronan replied as he narrowed his eyes at Keiro.

"You and Attia have the same Now-Why-Did-You-Sleep-With-That-Girl-Keiro look. Although I'm fairly certain that's not what you want to ask me," Keiro replied. "So what is it?"

"What happened to Attia after… After I left?" Ronan asked. Keiro only stated at him for a long moment until he narrowed his eyes. Ronan almost expected Keiro to say something until he swallowed and looked away to focus on the rock on the ground again. "Nothing?"

"Why don't you ask her?" Keiro suggested, his tone colder than Ronan had been expecting.

"She won't tell me. You know that."

"Then why should I?" Keiro questioned as he looked up again.

"But you know, don't you?"

Keiro didn't say anything, but when he heard a sound, he turned to see Attia and Claudia standing on the edge of the clearing. He was unsure of how much they'd heard of the conversation. Like they'd heard nothing, Attia walked forward and dropped the wood she carried into the pit. Claudia had done the same less gracefully.

"After we eat, we'll start walking," Keiro said as he stood up. Attia simply nodded in agreement. He pressed their lips together before he turned to Finn and Ronan, who followed him into the woods.

By the time they were moving again, the sun was high. As predicated, after traveling south, they exited the woods onto flat farmland. In the distance, they could see the road that connected the farms to the nearest town.

"How far from Court are we?" Finn asked.

"Hours on horseback," Keiro answered. "Days walking."

"Maybe we can get some horses in town," Finn said optimistically.

"Yeah if anybody recognizes you," Keiro replied sharply. As he began walking through the farmland, Attia followed beside him. Ronan was only a few steps behind. Karen, Claudia, and Finn eventually began walking as well. It seemed to don on everyone collectively that Finn and Claudia had no power unless somebody knew who they were. Chances were, the first small town they wandered into would have no idea what their King and Queen looked like and certainly wouldn't believe the two dirty people before them were royalty.

The walk along the road was long and with the sun beating down, the six were unsure how much farther they could continue. Well, Keiro had what seemed like limitless energy stores. That alone was enough to keep Attia moving but the same could not be said for the other four. By the time they did get into the town, it was dark out. It seemed most of the buildings had shut off their lights except for the local bar.

"We don't have any money," Karen pointed out bitterly. Keiro had rolled his eyes at her comment but didn't respond.

"Pick a mark," Ronan said as he peered around the rather large room.

"Him," Keiro answered motioning to a man on the far side of the bar. "Attia, go distract him."

"If we're spending the night, I want a room with a bed," Attia demanded. Keiro laughed as he looked down at her.

"Better hope he's rich, then," he replied as he nudged her in the direction of the man.

"That's illegal," Karen said in a hushed voice.

"Shut up," Keiro told her as he turned back. "Go sit down with Claudia and Finn. And don't say anything." As the three picked a table and sat down, they watched as Attia approached the rather well dressed man for the environment. As they chatted, Attia smiled up at him, letting him touch her arm after some conversation. After a few more minutes, Keiro approached the same man but from behind. Pretending to be preoccupied, he bumped into the man and apologized before he continued walking past them. At the same time, Ronan walked passed Keiro and discreetly grabbed the wallet Keiro had lifted. As Keiro returned to the table where Claudia, Finn, and Karen sat, Ronan went to the bar to order food. After some time, Attia walked away from the man to sit beside Keiro.

"Really?" Claudia questioned as she stared between Keiro and Attia.

"It's effective, isn't it?" Keiro replied sharply.

When Ronan returned with a few plates of food and extra money, the six began to eat. About halfway through the meal, commotion broke out through the room, pulling attention to the bar area. "What do you think happened?" Karen asked curiously, but nobody responded. Keiro didn't even care enough to roll his eyes.

"There's been word from Court!" a man declared as he stood on a chair and shouted out through the bar. "Prince Casper is ruling Regent!"

Whispers and uproar cascaded through the room but the table remained silent. As Keiro and Attia turned to Finn and Claudia, the four wondered how long Casper would last before they could get back to Court.

"And Lady Anne has been removed from Court," the man added after some quiet on his part. "Bets on the Prince can be made at the bar!"

"We need to get word to Casper," Claudia said softly as she looked to Finn, then Attia and Keiro.

"We couldn't even if we tried," Keiro replied. "If Council has taken over, they won't let anybody get near Casper. They've got him on lock by now."

"You could send word to Anne," Karen put in, her attention mostly focused on her plate of food. She didn't even notice that the four stared at her in a collective state of shock that she'd said something genuinely useful.

"If anybody could get to Casper, it would her," Finn commented as he looked to Claudia then Attia. "But what should we tell her?"

"Just to get the message to Casper," Claudia answered. "For him to hold on as long as he can until we get there."

"We can find a messenger after we eat," Keiro said as he continued to eat. Once they had finished their meals, the six wandered outside of the bar until they found a Messengers Service. Keiro handed the few gold coins to Finn while he and Claudia went into the building. Attia and Keiro waited outside with Ronan and Karen. After a few minutes, Finn and Claudia came out of the building with another man who held a folded piece of paper in his hand.

"That's all we have," Finn said truthfully as he dropped the coins into the man's hand.

"This doesn't cover the cost," the man pointed out. His eyes had gone to Attia once Finn and Claudia had joined the four.

"She'll pay the rest when you get there, then," Finn replied with a sigh.

"If she doesn't?"

"She will," Finn answered strongly.

"We could make a deal," the man said as he eyed Attia again, a smile pulling on his lips.

"Get the fuck out of here, right now," Keiro said as he stepped forward, his eyes narrowed. The messenger cleared his throat as he nodded to Keiro politely as he backed away.

"Really?" Attia asked as Keiro turned back to her. Keiro just ignored her as he shook his head and looked away. He wasn't blind to the amused grin on her face.


	28. Chapter 28

Elizabeth wanted nothing more than to see her daughters smile. Even just one of the two, but that seemed impossible as well. She understood why Anne had been perpetually saddened as she forced herself to move around the house and the field doing more work than her body could handle. Why Jane was so upset Elizabeth did not understand. She and Bradley were married when they returned home. Though Jane moved in with Bradley and his father, the two were over frequently as Bradley assisted their father with the chores.

"Are you alright, darling?" Elizabeth asked as Anne came down the stairs with the laundry. Anne paused at the last step to look up at her mother with a confused look across her face that was almost convincing.

"How do you mean?" Anne asked as she dropped the basket of laundry to the floor and crossed the room to stand across the kitchen counter from her mother.

"You don't have to pretend, Anne," Elizabeth answered as she reached across to touch her daughter's hand. "I know you're upset about the Prince."

"I hate when you call him that," Anne admitted as she sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry," Elizabeth replied as she smiled at Anne. "It feels strange to call him by his name. Surely you understand?"

"It's strange to hear you talk about him like he's… important or something."

"He's Regent now, Anne. Isn't that important?"

"No," Anne answered, her answer and her tone surprising her mother. "Casper isn't in control of anything, Mother. I was charged with treason. That wouldn't have happened if Casper had any power at all. The minute Finn and Claudia went missing, we didn't stand a chance. That's why Attia and Keiro ran after we got there. They knew what the attack meant."

"You don't believe all that, do you?" Jane commented from the side door of the house. Anne had been so wrapped up in her own explanation she hadn't even heard the side door open. When she turned to look, she saw Jane, Bradley, and her father had come into the house. "Why can't you just accept that he's a Prince and got tired of you?"

"Jane," Elizabeth scolded, before she turned to Anne. Except when she turned to her youngest, she didn't see the little girl she'd been so accustomed to seeing. She saw someone who wasn't even recognizable anymore.

"You don't know anything about Court life, Jane. You'd do best not pretending otherwise," Anne replied sharply. "You're all fools to think that Casper has any power at all. You can complain that we don't have a strong economy out here. Do you know why? Because it's the middle of nowhere! Nobody wants to live out here and the people who do have been here forever and can't get out. That's why. The royal family can't change that no matter how much you complain about it. Any power Casper ever had disappeared when his mother died and you're stupid to think otherwise."

"And what about the King, then? Surely he had power?"

"Not enough to do anything with it," Anne answered. "You think they let some kid wander in from Incarceron and take over? You think it's that simple!" 

"Anne," Bradley said as he stepped between the two sisters. "Jane, why don't we go for a walk?" he suggested as he turned to his wife but was met by the cold stare meant for Anne.

"I'm sure you'd rather go with Anne," Jane replied.

"Is that what you're upset about?" Anne snipped as she turned away to focus on the bowl of vegetables sitting out on the counter. To keep herself from getting too wrapped up in Jane, Anne walked around the counter and began to rinse off the vegetables one by one.

"Don't flatter yourself," Jane snapped. "You may have caught a Prince but that doesn't mean-"

"So you admit that Casper actually loved me and wasn't just toying with me?" Anne replied as she peered up at her sister. Jane had stepped around Bradley to glare at Anne, and he felt like stepping into the line of fire could prove detrimental to his health.

"Girls, that's enough," Elizabeth said strongly as she looked from Anne to Jane, but neither seemed to pay her any attention.

"He might be in love with you, just not enough to be with you even now?" Jane countered. Everybody must've seen the immediate heartbreak in Anne's eyes, but only Jane seemed to enjoy it. Nobody could remember exactly when it was that the two sisters became pitted against each other.

"Why did you invite me to your wedding?" Anne asked suddenly, the change in subject surprising everyone. "If you hate me so much, if you think of me the way you say, why did you even send word to Court for me?"

"I didn't," Jane replied simply, taking Anne back.

"I sent for you, Anne," Elizabeth admitted as she looked to her. Anne met her mother's gaze before she stared at Elizabeth.

"I'm going for a ride," Anne said simply as she grabbed her riding coat from the table and began to secure it around her shoulders. She'd started to walk towards the door but stopped when she felt Bradley grab her arm. "Let go of me," she demanded before she looked up at him.

"Are you ok?" he asked, his concern for her clear in his face and voice.

"You're married to my sister, Bradley," Anne reminded him as though he was unaware. She ripped her arm from his hand. "You chose to marry her, you know."

"You left me to go Court," Bradley replied defensively, the subject of their conversation quickly shifting. "And the next thing I know you're with the Prince."

"I don't know what you want me to say," Anne said as she met and held his gaze. "You've all been in denial about me and Casper and if you can't accept that, then I'm not coming back. If I can't go to Court, I sure as hell don't have to stay here with you."

"Anne, no," Elizabeth pleaded as she started towards the door, but Anne had already turned to leave. As she pulled open the door, she was met by a man approaching the door.

"I've a message for Lady Anne," he declared as he looked down to meet Anne's stare. 

"From who?" Anne demanded as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"The man said his name was Finn," he answered as he face contorted. "But I doubt that's his real name. Why kind of name is Finn?"

"Where is it from?" Anne asked hurriedly, her excitement impossible to hide.

"Parkfield," he answered as he nodded.

"Right next to Court," Anne said happily as she reached out for the paper he held in his hand. Before she could take it, however, he pulled back so she couldn't reach it.

"He said you'd pay the rest of my fee. He barely had a few gold coins."

"Messengers are such-"

"I'd watch the end of that sentence if you want to see this letter," the man warned as Anne reached into her pocket for the extra gold coins Casper had made her take.

"Just give it to me," Anne said strongly as she held out a few gold coins. He counted them as she took the letter.

"You're short two," he accused.

"I seriously doubt that," Anne replied. Judging from the look across his face, she knew Finn had paid him more than half his fee and he was just trying to con her out of a few more coins. As she ripped open the letter, the man retreated from the house.

"What does it say, Anne?" Elizabeth asked.

"I have to go to Court," Anne declared as she looked up at her mother. She ran passed her entire family to run up the stairs, taking them two at a time. She was upstairs for no longer than a minute before she came down again, a bag across her body.

"Anne, you've been removed," Elizabeth said strongly. "You cannot go back. They'll charge you with treason."

"I have to go," Anne replied as she faced her mother. "The king is alive. They need me to tell Casper to hold on to the throne long enough for them to get back," Anne explained. She knew her mother couldn't completely grasp the concept, but told her anyway. "If Council forces Casper to relinquish his power, when Finn gets back to Court, he won't have a crown anymore, Mother. I have to go!"

"I'll come with you, then," Elizabeth said quickly.

"No, Mother," Anne replied with a sigh. "I'll be arrested when I get there. You can't come."

"I won't let you go alone, Anne," Elizabeth said strongly. Anne didn't have time to argue. She looked away from her mother to Bradley before she focused on her mother again. "You're not leaving here alone, Anne," Elizabeth repeated.

"Fine," Anne groaned as she turned to the door. "I'll get the horses."

Elizabeth surprised Anne by how fast she could continue riding. Anne needed to get to Court as soon as she could and her mother was more than willing to make that happen. They'd arrived at Court in a matter of hours, a time that could make some of Charles' best men look slow. At the Front gate, Anne had bribed the men to let them pass, again surprising her mother. Running down the hallways before anybody could recognize her, Anne reached the hallway where Finn's office was located.

"Stop!" one of the Royal Guards yelled as they spotted her.

"No, just let me through," Anne pleaded as they started to close in on her and her mother. "Just for a minute. I just need to see the Prince."

"We've been given orders," the man replied. She knew he recognized her from the way he looked at her, guilt in his eyes. "We've no choice but to arrest you."

"No," Anne shook her head as she clenched her fist, the note from Finn crumbling between her fingers. "Just wait."

"I can't."

"Casper!" Anne screamed as loudly as she could, hoping he was in the room and that she hadn't alerted all of Council to her presence. Again she yelled for him and waited the ten agonizing seconds it took for him to emerge.

"Anne," he said surprised. She sprinted to him as quickly as she could, her arms wrapped around his neck tightly. Her hand holding the note slipped into the back of his shirt and let it go before she stroked the back of his neck with her fingers.

"I love you," she said quickly as she met his gaze. His eyes narrowed at her for an instant, and she knew he'd felt the note slip into his shirt.

"Mistress Anne, you are under arrest for treason, and for violating Council's orders," somebody had declared from behind Casper, but she paid them no attention.

"I love you," Casper whispered before he stole a kiss. She kissed him back passionately for the few seconds they had before the Guardsmen separated them. With no other choice, Anne watched Casper as the men dragged her and her mother down the hallway.

The Guardsmen were gentler once they'd turned the hallway so Council could no longer see them. The man holding Anne's arm had released her but she knew from the look in his eye that he would still escort her and her mother to the cells. "We've got no power here anymore, my Lady," he explained as he tried to meet Anne's eyes.

"I know," Anne responded with a sharp nod. She swallowed as she slipped her arm into her mothers and led her down the hallway. The two Guardsmen walked on each side of them.

"If he gets the chance, the Prince will have you released," the Guardsmen said just as they reached the cells.

"When the King arrives it won't matter," Anne answered as she stepped into the cell first and her mother followed.

"Everyone believes him dead. Surely you've gotten that news."

Anne only smiled at the two Guardsmen as they locked the cell door. "You'd be surprised how much the High Duke Keiro and Lady Attia can do when Council isn't hovering over them."


	29. Chapter 29

The six continued on down the road only at Keiro's insistence. Karen would've given up days ago but pushed forward despite her reservations. Attia seemed to have no trouble keeping up while Ronan only needed rests every so often to keep restoring his energy. Claudia had been wearing thin, and Finn could tell. She could see in him that the trails they'd been through hardly fazed him though. It seemed Finn, Keiro, and Attia had endless amounts of energy to push forward. Claudia was inclined to believe it was from their experience Inside.

"Maybe we should stop," Karen said. Surprising Claudia, Keiro did stop walking to look back at her.

"We'll get up to that house up there and ask if they have a spare room and if not we'll find somewhere to sleep," Keiro told her, his tone showing the expansive amounts of patience he'd gained over the course of the few days he'd spent with the woman.

"And if they try to kill us too?" Karen questioned cynically. Keiro rolled his eyes as he turned forward again and continued on.

"Well, did you hire them and fail to pay them enough? Cause then they might," Keiro snapped back. Claudia, who usually mediated between the pair, had no energy left to stop them anymore. She assumed Finn could see it in her since he squeezed her hand. When she looked to him, he gave her a soft reassuring smile.

"Keiro doesn't stop until he gets what he wants," Finn said softly in her ear as he managed to slip an arm around her waist.

"Is that how you Escaped?"

"Actually, we probably would've Escaped faster if Keiro wasn't with us," Attia commented, earning a glare from Keiro.

"I highly doubt that," Keiro replied as he forced his eyes forward. The windows of the house in the distance were glowing in the darkness of the night. Karen predictably complained two more times before they reached the small farm off the side of the road. Leaving her with Ronan, the four wandered to the front of the house hoping the desperation in their appearance would grant them at least a room to sleep in for the night. If they happened to have water as well, Attia and Claudia were sure as hell they'd be cleaning first before Karen saw a drop. Claudia, easily the nicest of the four, was even willing to let Keiro and Finn have bathing water before Karen.

"Still have your knife, right?" Keiro asked as they reached the door.

"Yeah," Attia answered before Keiro knocked on the door. Thankfully, the four heard rustling on the other side, signaling that somebody was home. Within another minute, the door swung open to reveal a man in the doorway, a long rifle in his arms.

"Are you joking?" Keiro snapped. "Can't we go anywhere without a gun pointed at us? I can't work with guns, Finn," he said strongly like it was somehow Finn's fault. Of course, Finn knew that guns Inside were rare and Keiro certainly had never used one nor defended against one. He was quite certain Keiro had his share of experience with guns in the last few days.

"It's the middle of the night," Finn replied with a sigh as he stepped forward, pulling Attia behind him with Claudia. "Of course the man's got a gun, Keiro," he added as he turned to the man, who attire gave him away as a farmer.

"Your Majesty," he exclaimed right away as he dropped his gun.

"Thank god," Keiro groaned as he leaned up against the door frame.

"We need a place to stay," Finn said, a smiling breaking out across his face now that he'd been recognized.

"Of course," the man said hurriedly as he stepped out of the doorway and let the King and the two women pass into the house. Keiro whistled back sharply before he followed Attia into the house. A minute later, Ronan and Karen approached and entered the house as well. "I can't believe you're alive. I'm sorry about the rifle. It's all dark and you can never be too careful out here in the middle of nowhere," he rambled as he set the rifle down, leaning the barrel against the wall.

"It's alright," Finn assured the man. "We don't need much. We just need to get back to Court."

"Of course," the man answered, still obviously flustered. "Marianne!" he yelled as he turned his head to the staircase to the side of the room. "Draw some water!"

"Why?" a woman's voice called back, carrying through the house. A moment later, a woman appeared in the stairwell, her eyes narrowed at the six. "Who are they?"

"The King and Queen," the man answered under his breath. The woman's face went pale as she quickly stepped down from the last step and dropped into an awkward curtsey.

"No, it's alright," Claudia assured as she stepped forward, holding her arm out to the woman. "We don't need any special treatment here. Just anything you can spare is enough." 

"We've some extra food," Marianne replied, her words rushed in her nervous state. "I'll have some water drawn and we can set up the spare rooms. It's not much-"

"It's perfect," Claudia responded with a bright smile as she drew the woman's hands into her own. "We're very grateful. We've not had the most pleasant of trips."

"Word is that you're… you're dead."

"You wouldn't by chance have a horse or two?" Keiro asked curiously as he looked from the man to the woman. The pair did not reply right away and the hesitation was clear in their expressions.

"If you give us what horses you have tomorrow morning, by the evening, I'll see to it that you've been well rewarded and the horses replaced," Finn said as he stepped forward. It was a modest proposition but it was clear that what little Finn offered was enough to make their faces light up in hope. "We just need a few hours sleep and horses to get to Court as soon as we can." 

"Of course," the man said with a nod before he turned to his wife.

Only an hour later, Keiro and Attia sat on the rough, hard bed in the back room of the house. They'd just finished washing in the bucket of water the farmer had brought for them. The towel they shared was thoroughly wet by the time Attia needed to dry her hair, but neither were complaining. Even the basic amenities were nice now.

"You should talk to your father about everything that happened Inside," Keiro said suddenly. He wasn't looking at Attia as he slipped his arms through the sleeves of his shirt and pulled it over his head. When he did turn back to her, she was more focused on wringing out her hair than anything he was saying.

"He already knows what happened," Attia answered after a moment. When she looked up at Keiro, she knew he meant something else.

"Before Finn and I."

"Why?" Attia sighed as she hung the wet towel on the changing screen in the corner of the room. "It won't change anything, Keiro. What happened already happened and it's done."

"That's not the point," Keiro replied as he held out a hand to her. She sighed again as she placed her hand in his and sat beside him on the bed.

"I'm not going to tell him, Keiro," Attia simply declared as she stared at him. "I've never told anyone, and the only reason I told you is because you wouldn't leave me alone for five minutes about it. And why do you even care?"

"I think he knows that you have no intention of ever forgiving him, but you can at least humor the man. He doesn't even know what you hate him for. You realize that, right?"

"I don't care," Attia responded, her voice colder than Keiro expected. Over the last year, he'd learned things about Attia that had reshaped the way he looked or thought of her. Whenever she'd been cold about certain subjects, he'd never truly known why until she'd told him about her past. Now that her voice was cold again, Keiro knew for certain they'd dropped into the part of her that she was so bent on locking away completely that she was stubborn enough to lock even him out. "Why do you care, Keiro?"

"Doesn't he deserve to know?" Keiro asked as he let his hand touch the back of her hand. When she did not pull away at the touch, he let his fingers slide under hers until he could intertwine their fingers.

"You like him, don't you?"

Keiro actually smiled as he let out a dry laugh. "I wouldn't say I like him, but he's not terrible, Attia. He's not pure evil even if that's how you prefer to think of him."

"What am I supposed to say, Keiro?" Attia questioned as she stared at him. He noticed the change in her voice as she moved closer to him on the bed. Her tone was no longer cold and distant but actually defensive. That, of course, meant Keiro had some sliver of hope that me might change her mind. Once she made up her mind there was no reason to be defensive. She was declaring things then not defending them. "Oh, by the way I was enslaved and raped by multiple men who bought and sold me and now I apparently can't move at all if-" she suddenly stopped speaking, the room going silent.

"Perhaps not that exact wording," Keiro replied as he held her gaze. When she leaned into him, he kissed her and let his other hand touch the back of her neck. The kiss lasted for perhaps a minute before Keiro pulled away. By then, the smell of food was drifting into the room and Keiro was reminded how hungry he was.

As they walked out of the room and into the front room, Keiro's hand rested on the small of her back as he walked a step behind her. Neither were aware their conversation had drifted into the front room until Attia held Finn's gaze then her father's. Claudia had been better and averting her eyes but hadn't been able to straighten her face any better than Finn and Ronan.

Nobody wanted to comment on the subject, however; so Attia and Keiro took seats around the table just as a large bowl of cooked meats and vegetables was set in the center by Marianne. For the duration of the meal, only small talk was made, and Attia had no part in any of it. As soon as she finished her portion of the food, she'd stood from her seat and began walking towards the front door of the house.

"Have your knife?" Keiro asked her just as she touched the door handle. Neither turned to look at each other.

"Yes," she said abruptly before she left the building, the door swinging shut behind her. Keiro drew in a deep breath before he met Finn's gaze. He wanted to look to Ronan but wasn't really sure what to expect from the man.

"Is she ok?" Finn finally asked when nobody else seemed willing to.

"She's armed," Keiro replied with a shrug. "That's the best I can do."


	30. Chapter 30

**Thank you for all the reviews and support! There is only one chapter left after this, but as of right now I don't have another sequel. If there's enough people who do want another I'll consider it.**

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><p>"No," Casper said strongly as he stared across the Council table. He didn't like sitting in Finn's seat, the high back causing an itch in his shoulder constantly. Nor did he care for the way it put him in the center of attention. He much preferred his usual seat during Council meetings to Finn's mainly because his usual Council seat was anywhere but in the Council meeting hall. "I'm not signing this," Casper declared as he tore the piece of paper the Councilmen had presented him with. The collective shock resulted in aloud gasps and outcries. Only Charles, who stood against the back wall, smiled at the action.<p>

"Your Majesty," the councilman seated to the right of Vega said as he stood. "Surely you understand it is only out of your best interest to relinquish the monarchy for a more decentralized government. It will allow you to be less burdened by the everyday responsibilities of-"

"No," Casper repeated strongly as he stood up from his seat. "I'm not signing over the throne to you. To any of you. Go ahead and start overthrowing me, you won't get that far fast enough," Casper told them, his words sounding all too much like a threat for their tastes.

"You can't simply replace us," another man replied.

"I can have you arrested for treason," Casper replied as he rose an eyebrow.

"On what charge?"

"Think I can't come up with something? You arrested Anne and now you want me to play nice with you? Are you out of your fucking minds?" Casper spat at them before he focused his attention on Charles.

"If we drop the charges against her, will you consider-"

"No," Casper answered as he turned his attention back to the Councilmen. "It'll take you a minimum of a week to overthrow me completely, so I suggest you use that time wisely," he told them before he walked around the table. He could hear the commotion he'd caused but he didn't look back at the table. As he walked out of the room, Charles followed him.

"Why are you challenging them, Your Grace?" Charles questioned in a hushed voice as the two men walked briskly down the hallway. After three turns, Charles realized Casper was headed straight to the holding cells.

"I didn't know how else to buy time," Casper admitted. "I don't go to enough of those stupid meetings to know anything else."

"They will remove you, Casper," Charles said seriously as he stopped walking and put a hand on the Prince's shoulder.

"They won't have time," Casper assured him before he continued on. Once they reached the holding cells, Charles met the gazes of the men.

"Leave them," Charles instructed as he held out his hand. The man standing to the right of the cell handed over a ring of keys before he followed the other guard out of the hallway. Charles handed the keys over to Casper who quickly unlocked the cell door.

"Are you ok?" Casper asked as he stepped inside to embrace Anne.

"Yes," she assured him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and accepted his kiss. "They're not rough with us at all."

"They'll be here within a week right?" Casper asked as he pulled back to look into her eyes.

"Should be, I guess. I don't really know," Anne answered. "Why?"

"I think that's all the time we have," Casper replied.

"What did you do?" Anne questioned, the tone she used surprising her mother. Elizabeth still was not used to the manner in which her daughter spoke to and about the Prince in.

"Told them to remove me from the throne if they wanted to take over," Casper admitted, the guilt showing in his face. "I didn't know what else to do! They wrote up a transfer of power from the monarchy to Council!"

"You couldn't just rip it up?" Anne replied.

"I did that," Casper answered and Anne sighed as she rolled her eyes but did not comment. "I'm doing the best I can, alright," he said defensively.

"I know," Anne said as she looked at him and reached out to stroke his face gently.

"If it's not enough time, Anne-"

"Don't Casper," Anne said as she shook her head.

"We'll go back to Lancaster." Casper finished, ignoring Anne's interruption. "We'll go wherever you want. We can stay with your family or anything. I don't care," he said before he pressed their lips together. "We'll get married and buy a house. Or a farm if you want, but we'll just have to hire people because I can't do that with the goats and whatnot. It's just not going to work."

Anne only laughed before she kissed him again, nodding softly as she pulled away.

"You shouldn't stay too long," Charles warned. Casper nodded as he sighed and pulled away from Anne.

"Here," he said as he reached into his pocket. "You can bribe the guard or something," he told her with a laugh as he dropped a few coins into her hand and stole another kiss. He and Charles left the cells, but Casper couldn't help but look back at Anne once more.

"What do you need the week for?" Charles questioned after they'd left the cells and made sure nobody else was around them. Casper only smiled and laughed before he handed over the small folded up note Anne had given him. Charles read through it quickly before he met Casper's gaze. "You six never fail to surprise me. It makes my job quite difficult, you know."

"Take it up with Finn when he gets here," Casper replied with a laugh.

The next couple hours were agonizing as Casper endured the chaos. The Councilmen and various other men were competing for his attention again. As usual, he only had so much energy and attention to go around. Part of him was silently hoping he'd get word of some escape on Anne's part just so he'd have a reason to run away with her and never be seen again. Before his fantasies could get the best of him, however, the door opened again. Casper didn't bother looking to see who'd come in. He figured it was yet another person whose problems were the most important one's the Realm and everyone else should yield to them. He was perpetually amazed at how important everyone always thought of themselves in the course of one day.

"The King has arrived!" the messenger declared breathlessly. The room had gone silent in an instant and Casper's head whipped around to stare at the boy bent over as he gasped for breath. "The King, Queen, The High Duke, and Lady Attia."

Casper let out a half laugh, half gasp as he started to run out of the room. A select few Councilmen followed him and by the time Casper reached the front gates, a large crowd had amassed. Whispers broke out as Finn, Claudia, Keiro, Attia, Ronan, and Karen slowly walked into Court, each one of them looking like they'd just come straight out of Incarceron.

As Finn took a few more steps, all of the crowd dropped to their knees until only Casper remained standing as he stared at the royal four. Even Ronan and Karen had shown their loyalties to the returned King and Queen. However, there was not a chance in Incarceron that either Keiro or Attia would be bowing to Finn and Claudia any time soon.

"Please tell me you didn't ruin everything," Finn snapped right away as he stared at Casper. The Prince let the tone of voice slide since Finn had been missing for so long.

"You are welcome," Casper replied, his smiling proving to be detrimental to his sarcasm. "Want to repay me?"

"Not particularly."

"They arrested Anne and her mother," Casper replied.

"I've been gone a week!" Finn yelled suddenly, surprising even Claudia beside him. "Release her right now or all of Council will be under arrest. Have you lost your mind?" he scolded as his eyes landed on the Councilmen on their knees immediately behind Finn.

"Yes," Casper answered on their behalf. Finn met his gaze, obviously not appreciative of the Prince's comment. "Draw baths for them," Casper instructed as he turned to a nearby page boy before meeting Finn's gaze again. Whatever unspoken agreement the two step-brothers had that inspired Finn to let Casper keep his title and position seemed to be strengthened in that moment. Finn let out a huff of a laugh as he stepped forward and embraced Casper.

Another minute later, Anne came running into the open space around the royals. Casper expected her to come to him, but she'd gone straight to Finn, through her arms around his neck, ignoring the filthy state of his clothes even as the grime transferred onto her. "I'm so glad you're ok," she gushed hurriedly in one breath before she pulled away and hugged Claudia next. "I was so worried."

Keiro only laughed, until Anne turned her affections to him as well. Attia accepted her hug more gracefully that Keiro did before they started walking further into Court. Before anybody could go looking for a shower or bath, they were herded into Finn's office to deal with the politics of the last week.

"You couldn't send another search party?" Keiro criticized as he glared at the men of Council.

"We had no reason to."

"Attia and I went missing."

"You deserted us."

"Like you weren't plotting to get rid of us," Keiro snapped back at the outspoken Councilman.

"Keiro?" Morgan called as she appeared in the doorway.

"Oh god," Attia groaned as she rolled her eyes. She directed her gaze to Finn and Claudia, both of whom seemed to find entertainment in Morgan's presence. When she turned to her father, he only met her gaze, careful to keep his facial expression straight.

"I was so worried about you! I always knew you weren't dead," Morgan gushed as she crossed the room and latched onto Keiro's neck. He gasped when her fingers grazed the gash on his arm and she quickly pulled away in horror. "I'll get you some bandages!" she said quickly before she left the room again. Keiro turned to Attia, wide eyed.

"Don't look at me like that," Attia told him sharply. "She's your whore. You get rid of her."

"Oh come on," Keiro sighed as he stared at her. "It's easier for you to get rid of her than for me."

"How is that true?" Attia demanded, the two obviously more interested in the matter of Lady Morgan than any of the matters on hand.

"She'll expect me to have an explanation. You can just pull your knife on her," Keiro answered and Attia rolled her eyes.

"How do you usually get rid of them?" Attia questioned as she stepped towards him. After Morgan had touched the wound, it had started bleeding from the center. She gently wiped away the drops of blood on the fabric of her shirt before she stared up at him.

"They usually go away on their own," Keiro admitted. Attia only laughed at him and could swear she heard Finn and Claudia laughing in the background as well. She reached up with her other hand to touch the back of his neck, pulling him down to meet her lips. Seconds later, Morgan had come back into the room to watch as Keiro wrapped his arms around Attia's waist, pulling her flush against him as he kissed her more deeply. By the time they pulled apart, Morgan had left the room and Keiro eyed the open door before he looked down at Attia. "See? You didn't even have to say anything."

"You're a shit," Attia accused as she stepped out of his embrace.

"You're the one with the Knight who's getting a little too comfortable around you," Keiro replied sharply, completely unaware that Mason was in the room against the back wall. Attia whipped around, eyes narrowed, as she glared at him.

"Morgan," she said simply. Keiro cleared his throat and looked away as he reached up to smear the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand.

"So, I'm going to go take a shower," he said eventually as he met her gaze.

"Yeah, try taking one alone," Attia suggested as he approached her. He only laughed before he put a kiss on her cheek.

"Unless you want to come," he replied. When she rose an eyebrow at him, he nodded as he stepped away from her. "Can't blame a guy for trying," he added as he walked around her and left the room.

Attia remained where she stood for a moment as she comprehended the insanity Keiro was while seeming to appear as normal as he did. Of course, normal was relative.

"Great," Finn said simply. "Any other problems that can't wait an hour?" he asked, pulling all the attention back to him.

"I want to petition," Casper spoke suddenly and Finn sighed as he turned back to stare at him. Anne stood beside him but her eyes were diverted.

"For what?" Finn demanded. "You get everything you want."

"To marry Anne," Casper answered and Anne's face went red instantly. Finn was speechless as he stared at the pair. It was Claudia who laughed first until Finn did as well. Nodding, Finn turned back to his desk but said nothing further on the topic.


	31. Chapter 31

**SO, this is the final chapter. An epilogue of sorts. Right now, I don't have another squeal written, but at the bottom of the page you can add me to your Author's alerts and when I post a new story You'll be notififed so if I ever do write another, you'll be the first to know. (Right now, I am planning to write another)**

**I hope you like this last installment, and as always, feel free to let me know what you think. Or give me suggestions for the next one!**

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><p>Finn had granted Casper's marriage petition within the week. As a show of good faith, Casper had sent gold to Anne's family and offered to buy the surrounding land of their farm so her father could expand. By the time the day of the wedding crept closer, Finn arranged for Anne's family to arrive a week early. Casper's allowance covered the cost of their new fancy Courtier-worthy clothes but Anne had done a certain amount of convincing to get her parents to actually wear them.<p>

Anne picked her tiara from a set Claudia had pulled from the vaults for her. The silver shone against her dark hair, the sapphires matching the blue lace trim of her white wedding gown. At the end of the wedding and coronation of the Princess, the ceremonial festivities began. Finn had secretly arranged for Keiro and Attia to be announced as High Duke and Duchess to the crowd. The shock on Attia's face had matched those of the Courtiers. Keiro only grinned smugly as he descended the stairs gracefully, Attia on his arm. Whether he'd planned it with Finn, she never really found out, nor did she ever shake the title. Within the next year, every hopeful woman of Court, Morgan included, was well aware that the position of High Duchess was permanently filled.

That third year of Finn's reign proved most eventful. Months into the Princess' pregnancy, the Queen was found with child as well. As Finn and Casper ran around Court desperate to please their pregnant wives, Keiro laughed at their expense. Anne named her boy Casper after his father, but he was better known as Prince Chase. Claudia and Finn named their son John after her father, who'd given up his running around Incarceron to be a grandfather. Of course, a year later when the two young Princes' had a cousin on the way, Keiro wasn't at all pleased. How Claudia and Anne handled their pregnancies with much more sanity than Attia, he would never know. But when he held his son for the first time, he surprised even Attia when he named the boy Finn. He made Attia agree to tell everyone how it'd been her idea, claiming it'd be easier for a new mother to be so sentimental than a man who's heart had hardened from years of imprisonment.

Four years later, if anybody had thought Keiro's heart truly was hardened, they didn't think so anymore. Claudia and Finn's Princess Charlotte was spoiled incessantly by Keiro until Attia discovered herself pregnant again. The moment he held his daughter, Kyra, any icy part of him that may or may not have been there certainly weren't there anymore. Kyra and Charlotte certainly knew how to pull at the heartstrings of their royal fathers and uncles. John, Chase, and Finn got attention in wildly different ways, opting to run amok and trick their tutors and guards into misplacing them at all hours of the day.

On Progression, the royal children, aged anywhere from seven to four, had gotten away from their parents and guards in one of the towns they'd stopped at. They were in a small farming community when one of the wheels broke on one of the carriages. Between the crowds and the Courtiers on Progression, Attia and Keiro had no chance at getting their hands on any one of the five children. When they had caught up to them, they stood outside a stone house, the five staring in shock at the black smoke that poured from all the windows, the chimney and the spaces around the door. A scream had filled the air just seconds before anybody else had noticed the smoke. By the time the townspeople had gotten there, Keiro had already darted inside the house against Attia's insistence. She simply held onto the five children watching in horror until Keiro had reemerged with a boy in his arms.

Christopher's parents had been killed in the fire, and Attia and Keiro had learned from the townspeople that he had no other family. In the few short hours they'd been stuck in that town, the royal family had gotten bigger. Within months, Chris ran with Finn, Chase, and John like the four were brothers and cousins from the start. What proved most amazing, however, was that Chris sat with Charlotte and Kyra all the same.

Eventually, against all odds, Keiro, Attia, and Finn were old for all intents and purposes of the word. They hadn't died Inside. They'd survived the turmoil of the early years in Finn's reign. They'd even survived children, a concept that regularly had then checking the status of their sanity. Keiro was sure the reason everyone deserted their children Inside was because children were programmed to drive parents crazy. Of course, Attia had not appreciated the comment and he'd spent a good few nights sleeping alone before he'd come back to his senses. Nonetheless, she never did actually get rid of her non-husband. That alone surprised Claudia, Casper, and Anne. Finn knew better than that. They'd be hopelessly bored without each other.


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